New York (AFP) - Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz said Wednesday night that he plans to play fewer tournaments in the future, blaming an "impossible" schedule for the growing number of injuries in tennis.

First modification: 09/03/2026 - 11:09

Alcaraz spoke about this debate after passing the second round of the United States Open, the tournament in which he reappeared after four months out due to a right wrist injury.

The current champion, who beat the Portuguese Jaime Faria in four sets, does not believe that this break will help him physically in the last Grand Slam of the year, to which many players arrive physically exhausted, but he does plan to incorporate regular breaks into his calendar in the future.

"Obviously I don't want to have this break due to an injury," he stressed. "But in the future I'm going to take some breaks, long breaks. Maybe not four months, but a month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it's impossible to play them all."

"I think they are adding more important tournaments. In some way they are forcing us to play," he considered. "So it's impossible, and we're seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players being tired. If they don't do anything about it, we're going to see even more in the future."

"For me, taking this break due to an injury was not so good, (...) but in the future I will take some breaks and miss some tournaments, for sure," he concluded.

In his second match in the legs, Alcaraz showed some signs of lacking rhythm against Faria and attributed his problems in the first set to not taking advantage of a break opportunity that would have given him a 4-2 lead.

Instead, Faria tied 3-3 and then broke Alcaraz in the next game to get the first set back on track and force the Spaniard into a comeback.

"It was a tough match for me. In the first set I was feeling great, I had a break point and I missed it," he lamented. "After that, I got rushed. I didn't take my time, I wasn't patient and that obviously cost me the break."

The Spaniard, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, also revealed the inspiration for his new victory celebration on the court, imitating the launch of an arrow into the stands.

"My little brothers are here and they told me that if I won we would do the bow and arrow. They did it from the box and I did it from the track, it was a celebration for them," he explained.

© 2026 AFP

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