When Alcaraz wore a cast at the Laureus Sports Awards earlier this week, it was an ominous sign. The scan that he had in Madrid has not provided any reassurance.
Wrist injuries are notoriously problematic for tennis players – and taking a gamble when a problem arises can be very costly.
A player struggling with a wrist injury needs to carefully manage the issue and it was telling how Alcaraz spoke in his statement about needing to “be cautious”.
As was the fact he is not putting a time frame on his return.
Clearly there is a huge load put through the joint – not just as a player prepares for each tournament in their senior career – but across all the years they have been honing their technique since first picking up a racquet.
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who had to retire in 2024 after his own wrist problems, says the repetition of hitting thousands of balls across so many years is what makes the wrist so vulnerable.
Different balls across different tournaments – with varying weights and bounces – is seen as another reason why the stress put on the joint is exacerbated.
