Having returned to the tour after a four-month hiatus due to a wrist injury, Carlos Alcaraz has revealed how he intends to manage the demanding tour calendar moving forward. The Spaniard’s fellow defending champion at the 2026 US Open, Aryna Sabalenka, has backed his approach.
Aryna Sabalenka Empathizes with Carlos Alcaraz over Scheduling Decision
Despite his lengthy absence from the tour, Alcaraz has produced an impressive level of play at the US Open, claiming a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Roman Safiullin in his opening match and defeating Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
Speaking to the press after his second-round win, Alcaraz opened up about his plans to take extended breaks from the tour in the future, deeming it “impossible” to play every important tournament on the calendar.
“Seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because of an injury. But in the future, I’m gonna take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments because it’s impossible to play them all,” Alcaraz said.
With the Saudi Arabia Masters also set to be added to the schedule from 2028, the seven-time Grand Slam champion further highlighted the grueling nature of the calendar, particularly with the 16 mandatory tournaments. He stressed the need for changes in the schedule, warning that without improvements, player injuries would only continue to rise.
“They’re adding more important tournaments. In a way, they’re making us play. You can say no, you can skip one or two, you can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some Grand Slams and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP required us to play,” he said.
“So, it’s impossible. We’re seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we’re gonna see it even more in the future,” he added.
During her post-match press conference after beating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, Sabalenka echoed similar sentiments about the scheduling and advocated for a reduction in mandatory tournaments, while empathizing with Alcaraz.
“I would love to see the changes in the scheduling and to cut off the mandatory events and let the players decide what’s better for their health because it’s been super intense. Especially if you play at the level Carlos is playing, basically very consistent,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka acknowledged that players would have no option but to sacrifice tournaments and ranking points if the WTA and ATP did not step in to prioritize their well-being.
“It’s very tricky for the body and I feel like if they’re not going to cut it, we’ll have to sacrifice points, ranking position, whatever in order to protect our body. So I think would be really helpful from WTA and ATP to kind of ease up a little bit the schedule for us in order to really support our health,” she added.
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Like Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz has also booked his place in the fourth round of the US Open after claiming a dominant 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Yibing Wu. With a spot in the quarterfinals at stake, the Spaniard is set to continue his title defense against Tommy Paul, while Sabalenka will take on Taylor Townsend.
