Carlos Alcaraz’s return to action at the US Open was a roaring success, despite the star’s brutal five-set exit at the hands of Ben Shelton in the quarter finals.
There were plenty of question marks surrounding the Spaniard in New York, as he made his return to tennis for the first time in four and a half months since injuring his wrist at the Barcelona Open.
Many were sceptical on whether Alcaraz could return back to his very best at the US Open, but that soon subsided as he breezed through to the latter stages.
Alcaraz defeated Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria, Wu Yibing, and Tommy Paul to reach the last eight of the US Open, and he did so only dropping one set en route.
The star has a packed schedule following the US Open, including exhibition appearance at the Laver Cup and the Six Kings Slam, as well as the ATP Tour’s Asian swing.
Unfortunately for Alcaraz, the star has rarely showcased his best tennis during this part of the season, which he will need to address if he wants to continue to try and dislodge Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner from the top of the rankings.
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Alcaraz is currently closer to Ben Shelton in fourth place than he is Alexander Zverev in second, but history dictates it will likely stay that way before the end of the 2026 season.
The Spaniard is yet to win either of the last two Masters title of the year at the Shanghai Masters and the Paris Masters.
Alcaraz has only played the Shanghai tournament on three occasions in his career and his best effort is a quarter final appearance in 2024.
The star has only reached as far as the quarter finals of the Paris Masters too, but his record at the indoor event is ropey to say the least.
Alcaraz has been beaten in the second round of the tournament twice, including last year when he was stunned by Cameron Norrie. He’s also suffered two third round exits in Paris, so he will desperately need to turn that form around to climb the rankings before the year is out.
He has just a 50% winning rate at the Paris Masters in his five appearances at the tournament, which overwhelmingly makes it his worst performing masters event.
Alcaraz has only ever won two tournaments between the culmination of the US Open and the end of the season. Those came at the China Open in 2024 and the Japan Open in 2025, both of which are ATP 500 events.
The post Carlos Alcaraz still has a major point to prove for the rest of the 2026 season despite successful comeback appeared first on Tennis365.
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