Rennae Stubbs Reveals What She Warned Carlos Alcaraz About Amid Potential Return

Carlos Alcaraz has put his name on the entry list for the Cincinnati Masters. The final Masters 1000 on the North American hardcourt swing before the US Open is set to start on August 13.

If Alcaraz plays, it will be his first tournament since the Barcelona Open, where, after winning the opening-round match, he pulled out due to an injury on his right wrist. Because of the injury, the Spaniard was forced to skip the French Open and Wimbledon.

Amid his potential comeback, Serena Williams‘ coach Rennae Stubbs revealed she warned Alcaraz not to rush his comeback because wrist injuries have derailed, and in some cases, ended players’ careers.

Word on the street is that he is going to try and play Cincinnati. If that is the case, I can’t imagine he would have gone back to Spain. I would imagine he would center himself here on a hard court somewhere and practice before Cincinnati.

Renne Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

If Alcaraz plays in Cincinnati, he will be competing as the defending champion. Last year’s defending champion Jannik Sinner handed him the walkover in the final.

Every now and again, he does respond to me on Instagram. When he was hitting balls, I did say it was great to see him back, and he said, ‘Hopefully, soon I will be hitting it harder’, and that was at the end of June. I did write to him and said I did have a wrist injury for seven months, and I said [to him], please take your time because it’s not an injury you want to ( ) around with, and if it is sore in any way you shouldn’t even try and play anymore.

Rennae Stubbs added

Alcaraz last made a public appearance in the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. He was spotted wearing a brace on that wrist.

Patrick Mouratoglou feels Alexander Zverev hasn’t reached Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s level yet

Although Alexander Zverev won the French Open, he has not yet reached the level of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, believes Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Zverev, in the French Open final, overcame Flavio Cobolli in five sets to end his Grand Slam drought, also winning the first title of the season.

He then made back-to-back Grand Slam finals, reaching the championship match of Wimbledon, only to lose in four sets to Sinner. Mouratoglou, via his Instagram account, revealed what Sascha must do to consistently challenge Alcaraz and Sinner.

For him to be able to play aggressively with consistency and efficiency, he has to show that he’s able to do this over and over again until it becomes second nature. Otherwise, he starts, for example, the US swing and he knows he’s gonna beat those guys because he has margin; he starts to again. Control from the baseline, not be so aggressive. But if Zverev is to really make the step, he needs to practice this every single match, which he didn’t do yet.

Zverev trails 4-11 in the head-to-head matchups against the 24-year-old, with his defeat at SW19 being his 10th consecutive one at the hands of the five-time Grand Slam champion. The German ace, however, is 6-7 in the head-to-head record against Alcaraz.

Zverev, before this season, never progressed beyond the fourth round of the grass-court Major. Sinner defended his title, becoming the 10th man in the Open Era to do so at the All England Club. The Italian ace, who is on a 34-match winning streak in the Masters 1000s, is next scheduled to play the Canadian Open.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz and IShowSpeed Dance to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ at Justin Bieber’s FIFA World Cup Afterparty