Question mark Alcaraz: When will Sinner’s biggest competitor return?

“You occasionally see pictures of training, but it has little intensity. But the management is keeping a low profile,” says Vienna’s tournament boss Herwig Strakawho also sits on the ATP board. And Alcaraz is actually training again, but the blows with his damaged right wrist are still very gentle. “I think it’s a very sensitive injury and you can’t rush into anything,” says Straka. “We know many examples. Also from Austria.” What this means above all is Dominic Thiemwho had to repeatedly postpone his comeback in 2021/2022.

In the meantime, Alcaraz has done it again and moved from the Canadian Open in Montreal (from August 1st). Two weeks later in Cincinnati the time has finally come.

Alcaraz is doing it right: Instead of rushing his comeback, he is working on a careful rehabilitation plan. Nevertheless, the two-time Wimbledon champ (2023, 2024) is missing from tennis. Above all Jannik Sinner. “The two are not only friends, but they push each other. Just like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic did for years,” says Austria’s former world-class player Barbara Schett.