Carlos Alcaraz absence from the ATP Tour has been sorely felt and Greg Rusedski believes the Spaniard’s absence could continue past Wimbledon.
Alcaraz suffered a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open, which has kept him out of action through the clay court swing. The Spaniard has missed the Madrid Open, the Italian Open, and he has already confirmed he will not play Roland Garros.
The World No. 2 has tentatively been pencilled in for a return on the grass, namely at Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in June and July.
However, British tennis icon Greg Rusedski believes Alcaraz will be forced to miss Wimbledon too as his wrist injury continues to cause him problems.
Speaking about Novak Djokovic’s chances at Roland Garros on Off Court with Greg, Rusedski said: “With Carlos out, I don’t think Carlos is going to be back for Wimbledon this year. I think, you know, that’s where Djokovic is thinking, okay, that’s where I want to peak.
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“That’s where I want to be as healthy as possible. But I’m going to try to get my reps in through Paris, maybe play a few tournaments on the grass, and then peak for Wimbledon. Never discount him.
“If Novak’s healthy and the body’s there, he can beat anybody. He’s still that good. But it kind of feels like this is like crunchtime moments coming up from the next few weeks.”
Rusedski believes Alcaraz will be forced out of Wimbledon as he will not wany to come back too quickly and make his injuries even worse.
The former British No. 1 cited Juan Martin del Potro’s issues with his wrist as a reason for Alcaraz to stay away longer from the ATP Tour.
“We always miss Carlos, but he’s doing the right thing. Health is your wealth. He doesn’t want to be like Juan Martin Del Potro, who came back too early, too many wrist injuries, never managed to fulfill his huge potential.
“What a great player we lost there for long periods of time,” said Rusedski. “And until he’s ready, he won’t be back.”
Alcaraz won Queen’s last year, defeating Jiri Lehecka in the London final. He followed it up by reaching the Wimbledon final, which he lost to Jannik Sinner.
The Spaniard will be defending a lot of ranking points on the grass court swing, but that should not be Alcaraz’s core reason for returning to tennis.
He is over 6000 ranking points above Alexander Zverev in the rankings, so he will likely remain as the World No. 2 even if he misses the rest of the season.
