Carlos Alcaraz insists he will not be holding back as his return to the court coincides with a bid to defend his US Open title.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, arrived at Flushing Meadows having not played a competitive singles match since injuring his wrist in Barcelona in April, forcing him out of both the French Open and Wimbledon. A quick tuneup alongside Serena Williams in the mixed doubles may have shaken off a bit of rust but isn't a lot of preparation for the final Grand Slam of the year.
But Alcaraz insists he is "feeling great" ahead of his first-round match against Russia's Roman Safiullin on Monday.
"I've got to trust my team that tell me it's gonna be fine," Alcaraz told reporters Friday. "So I just have to go 100%, and right now I think with the practice I have made so far, it's been all good. So I'm trying to stay away from that fear, and I'm playing normal."
Alcaraz said he hasn't had to make any major changes to his playing style to keep the wrist problem from flaring up again, saying "You're going to see Carlitos playing the way he always has."
"I didn't change anything about technique, about movement, about the way that I'm going to play," he said. "I just wanted to feel like I'm going to be myself."
Alcaraz is a seven-time Grand Slam champion, winning his first major title at the 2022 US Open.
Safiullin, who is ranked No. 98, upset Alcaraz in the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris in 2023. Alcaraz avenged that loss the following year at the Paris Olympics in their lone other meeting.
"I [am] just coming here with kind of that similar feelings of I need competition. I need to come here to practice with these guys, to feel the competition once again, and this is really testing," Alcaraz said. "But I'm feeling great, and just I think that injury helped me a lot to know right now that it's all in my head."
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.