Carlos Alcaraz has won his battle to be fit for the US Open.
The seven-time grand slam champion has not played on the ATP Tour since April due to an ongoing wrist issue, but enlisted the help of football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano to announce his comeback.
Romano’s catchphrase of ‘here we go’ was used by Alcaraz to confirm a return to action after a four-month absence.
“Here we go,” Alcaraz said on X along with the United States flag.
Football transfer specialist Romano said on Instagram: “Here we go! Carlos Alcaraz will return to the tour at the US Open after spending four months sidelined with a right wrist injury.
“Ready to come back.”
A wrist problem forced Alcaraz to miss the defense of his French Open title and Wimbledon before he pulled out of the Cincinnati Open at the start of August, but the 23-year-old will step back onto the court at Flushing Meadows later this month.
Meanwhile, the US Open has announced another bumper increase in prize money for this month’s tournament.
An overall prize fund of $108m (approximately £80m) is the biggest in the sport’s history and represents a 20 per cent rise for the second consecutive year.
The winners of the singles trophies will each receive $5.5m (approximately £4m), while first-round prize money has been ramped up to $140,000 (more than £100,000).
Tournament organizers will hope they have done enough to stave off the type of player protests that took place at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
A group of leading players, including both world number ones Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, has been engaged in a behind-the-scenes battle with the major tournaments, dubbed Project RedEye, over the last 18 months regarding levels of prize money and various other complaints.
At the French Open they restricted their pre-tournament media to 15 minutes each before following suit at Wimbledon despite welcoming a 20% increase in prize money.
They cancelled plans to carry on their protest during the first week of the tournament following discussions and, along with the prize money announcement from New York, the slams also jointly confirmed the introduction of a grand slam player advisory council.
One of the players’ chief complaints has been the lack of a meaningful say in decision making, and the slams said the new council would serve as “the forum for direct communication, feedback and collaboration between the grand slams and players”.
The body will launch following the US Open, which runs from 30 August to 13 September, with interested players invited to apply.
It will also be the forum for discussions about contributions to player welfare, which is the third major strand of the players’ discontent.
