Jimmy Connors Shares Tangible Advice to Carlos Alcaraz as He Nears Return From Injury

Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his long-awaited return from injury next month. The former World No. 1 is on the entry list for the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open, which is the first time he has been included in a tournament’s list of players since the Madrid Open. With less than a month to his possible comeback, tennis legend Jimmy Connors has shared some candid advice to Alcaraz.

Alcaraz was at the top of his game before suffering a wrist injury during his opening match at the Barcelona Open in April. The Spaniard had won the Australian Open and Qatar Open in the first two min of the season. He reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, three days before sustaining the injury.

At the Monte Carlo Masters, he lost the title to his arch-rival Jannik Sinner and lost his World No.1 spot in the ATP rankings. In a bid to reclaim the position, he featured at the Barcelona Open, knowing that if he won the tournament, he would slide back to No.1 ahead of the Madrid Open, but that didn’t happen.

The wrist injury forced him to withdraw from several tournaments, including the French Open and Wimbledon Championships. With more than three months on the sidelines, it has been reported that Alcaraz has begun to take part in light training sessions as he continues to recover. However, should he return, he will not be at the same level he was before the injury.

For the past four seasons, Alcaraz has overcome injuries, but this is the first time he will spend more than three months on the sideline. Jimmy Connors revealed in his Advantage Connors podcast that Alcaraz must find a way to navigate the mental challenges upon returning to the tour from the wrist injury:

The wonder [of] if your wrist is going to hold up and if you were going to feel pain or if it… the pace of your opponent’s shots and the way you hit your forehand or your backhand or whatever. It’s mostly in your head. So if he can get through that and go in feeling confident that, ‘hey, my wrist is good. It’s going to hold up no matter what I do,’ that’s going to propel him a little bit faster to you know getting it complete in his mind that he could go out and really just cut loose.

Alcaraz was at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final in New York on Sunday (July 19). The World No.3 supported his country during their clash against Argentina while in the stands. He also participated in the pre-match ceremony, presenting the World Cup trophy. Later, a video of him and the Spanish players went viral on social media, celebrating their victory.

Jimmy Connors concerned about how Carlos Alcaraz will return to the court after his recovery from injury

Rafael Nadal has admitted in the past that injury can slow an athlete’s career. Also, it is a well-known phenomenon that when a player suffers an injury, it takes time to get back to their best when back on the court. It is believed that Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist injury will not be an exception, as he will have to go through the rigors of getting to his best level.

But that can be tough for a player’s mental health. It has been reported that Alcaraz practices and trains, but that is completely different from a tournament match. During the aforementioned conversation, Jimmy Connors pointed out that the major problem for Alcaraz will be how to begin again after months on the sidelines:

But it’s the wonder – how it’s going to be at the very beginning that he’s going to have to get through. That’s going to be the tough part. He’s been out for, what, five months, four or five months? Yeah, three or four months, something like that. Three or four months, and, you know, as we always talk about, you know, you can go practice all you want, but it’s not the same as match play.

Alcaraz won the Cincinnati Open and the US Open last season. He’s expected to play in both tournaments this year. Whilst he continues to recover from injury, his arch-rival Jannik Sinner has been dominating the men’s circuit. He has won six of the last seven tournaments he has played on tour.

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