Carlos Alcaraz’s comeback is less than a month away, if he’s healthy.
By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 16, 2026
Photo credit: Jon Buckle/ROLEX
The Queen City will host tournament king Carlos Alcaraz’s planned comeback.
If reigning champion Alcaraz’s right wrist recovers, he will launch his comeback aiming to defend his title at the 2026 Cincinnati Open set for August 8-23rd.
Tournament organizers announced entry lists and Alcaraz, who has not played since injuring his wrist defeating Otto Virtanen in his Barcelona Open opener in April, headlines the Cincinnati Open entry list.
A year ago, Alcaraz defeated Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev in succession to reach the Cincinnati final where he led archrival Jannik Sinner, 5-0, when the Italian retired from the Cincinnati Monday final.
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Wimbledon winner Sinner said “tennis needs Alcaraz” and the buzz the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry brings to the game.
“Tennis is a much better sport when [Alcaraz is] around,” Sinner said. “For me personally it’s nice when he’s around. It makes me look also in the draw and seeing the matches in a different way.
“Even though if I would face Carlos it would always be in the final. With the No. 1 and No. 2 seed, that’s the case.
“But, yeah, being young, going through difficult moments, it can happen. I do believe he’s going to come back stronger than before. But injuries are always tough, especially a wrist. There’s certain areas of our body what are very sensitive. The wrist, we saw with also other players in the past, that they can complicate our life.”
Overall, Alcaraz has posted a 22-3 record in 2026, winning titles at the Australian Open and in Doha.
Richard Pagliaro. Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.