Carlos Alcaraz has offered his clearest sign yet that a return to competitive tennis may be nearing. He posted a video on social media showing himself striking forehands at full intensity as he continues his recovery from a right wrist injury.
The short clip, shared on Instagram, showed the Spaniard hitting freely with his dominant hand, marking another step forward after months on the sidelines.
Alcaraz has not played a competitive match since the Barcelona Open in April. The 23-year-old defeated Finland’s Otto Virtanen 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round on April 14 before withdrawing ahead of his scheduled second-round match against Tomas Machac due to the injury.
The wrist problem forced the 7-time Grand Slam champion to miss a significant portion of the season. He withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome before also pulling out of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Earlier this month, he confirmed his withdrawal from the Montreal Masters 1000 as his recovery continued.
Read also : Alcaraz delays comeback after withdrawing from Montreal Masters 1000
It remains unclear whether Alcaraz will be ready to compete at the Cincinnati Masters, which begins in August, or whether he will return directly at the US Open later in the month.
His absence has been the longest of his professional career and raises questions about how quickly he will regain his best level after spending more than four months away from match competition. Whenever he returns, the Spaniard will be looking to rebuild his rhythm as one of the ATP Tour’s leading contenders for the remainder of the season.
Wrist injuries have historically proved particularly challenging for elite tennis players. Argentine Juan Martín del Potro saw repeated wrist problems disrupt what many believed could have been a multiple Grand Slam-winning career, despite claiming the 2009 US Open title.
Another notable example is Austria’s Dominic Thiem. One of the world’s top players between 2018 and 2020, Thiem captured his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open before suffering a serious wrist injury in 2021. Although he underwent surgery and returned to the tour, he never regained the level that had established him among the game’s elite and eventually retired in 2024 after struggling to compete consistently at the highest level.
For Alcaraz, the latest training footage offers an encouraging update, but the real test will come once he returns to tournament play and attempts to rediscover the form that has made him one of the sport’s best.
