“I’m coming back. Here we go.”

With those six words, Carlos Alcaraz bent the tennis universe back his way Thursday, as he heralded his return to the sport after a four-month absence because of a wrist injury.

Alcaraz, the seven-time Grand Slam champion who has been out since April, said he will return at the U.S. Open in a collaboration post with soccer transfer figure Fabrizio Romano, and even saw fit to throw in the Italian’s catchphrase: “Here we go.”

The 23-year-old Spaniard is defending champion in New York. Assuming his wrist stays healthy during the next week, he will look to renew his rivalry with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner there — but Sinner is yet to confirm his participation after withdrawing from this week’s Cincinnati Open with a right knee injury.

Alcaraz is also yet to formally confirm if his comeback will include the singles event. The main draws get underway Aug. 30, but Alcaraz may be on court sooner than that. The U.S. Open still has three wild cards to hand out for its mixed doubles tournament, which runs Aug. 24 through Aug. 26, including the qualifying event. The tournament will require a decision from Alcaraz on the mixed event in the next day or so, but his singles participation does not have to be set in stone until the draw on Aug. 27.

Alcaraz could pair with Serena Williams, a megastar and the greatest player of the modern era, to form a tantalizing duo in the mixed event. But Grand Slam singles tennis packs the sport’s stiffest test, with the men having to play best-of-five sets instead of the best-of-three format that they play during regular tour events. Coming back for a Grand Slam without playing a warm-up event is the ultimate jump into the fire.

Alcaraz has been managing tenosynovitis, an injury in which fluid accumulates in the sheath that protects a key tendon in the wrist. The injury has kept him out of two Grand Slams this year, with the Spaniard and his team taking a cautious approach to managing the kind of ailment that tennis players fear most. Alcaraz pulled out of the French Open a full month before it started, and withdrew from Wimbledon nearly six weeks out.

His latest withdrawal, from Cincinnati, was much closer to the start of the event, a sign that his comeback was nearing. Now it is in full view. As Alcaraz himself would say, it appears, here we go.

This move is in keeping with Alcaraz, the sport’s biggest star other than Novak Djokovic, the greatest men’s player of all-time and, even at 39, a true rival up until very recently. Dramatic; perhaps risky; and also filled with wild possibility — that Alcaraz might prove great enough to get up from his couch and walk into the gym and then the practice court, before rocking up to one the sport’s biggest tournaments and walking away with the trophy.

“Tennis needs Carlos,” Sinner said at Wimbledon.

Alcaraz’s absence has been an especially acute blow to the men’s game, which has banked on him and Sinner to provide another one of the sport’s classic generational rivalries over the next decades. No one else won a Grand Slam title from the start of 2024 through this year’s Australian Open.

Assuming he plays singles, Alcaraz will be the No. 3 seed behind Sinner and Alexander Zverev, who prevailed in the French Open and made the final of Wimbledon, losing to Sinner. That means Sinner and Alcaraz could wind up on the same side of the draw and meet in the semifinals rather than the final, as they did last year in New York, London and Paris.

There is some historical precedent for what might go down. Two years ago, Alcaraz had an arm injury that forced him to miss some of the clay-court tuneups ahead of the French Open. He spoke of knowing intellectually that his arm was fine, but struggling to trust that playing the way he wanted to play wouldn’t re-injure it, even though doctors told him he was safe.

He won the tournament.

‘It’s wonderful for the sport’

Analysis from senior tennis writer Ava Wallace

To get the obvious out of the way: It’s wonderful for the sport that Alcaraz and his energy, game style and variety are back. Aside from some intriguing stories cropping up in the past few weeks, men’s tennis felt heavier while he was gone, laden by both injuries and top players disappointing themselves, unable to fully take advantage of his absence at the Grand Slams.

The injuries remain, including, possibly, a lingering knee issue for Sinner. But with Alcaraz comes a renewed sense of lightness.

As for the state of Alcaraz: He has missed enough tennis that it feels comfortable to assume that he isn’t rushing back from his wrist injury. The fact that he withdrew from the Cincinnati Open and will be coming into the year’s final Grand Slam having not played competitive tennis since April 14 also suggests that he might not be overly concerned with bringing the hammer down on the rest of the field at the U.S. Open … Even though he probably could.

With those two assumptions — and they are just assumptions — comes one possible one conclusion: Alcaraz just wants to play.

If that is Alcaraz’s line of thinking — test the wrist out, get the competitive juices back flowing, play some real tennis for the benefit of his mental wellbeing as much as anything — that makes perfect sense, and everyone, including Alcaraz himself, might then adjust their expectations accordingly. The 23-year-old has never missed this much time in his young career, and the rust could fall off with one match or he could struggle to reach the level at which he’s used to performing.

Carlos Alcaraz’s tennis was at its most creative and potent during his title run at last year’s U.S. Open. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

Either way, as long as he’s healthy (which is the most important factor here, especially with a wrist injury) there’s no real downside to getting back out there.

In fact, in New York, there might only be upside. The U.S. Open is the busiest Grand Slam for stars like Alcaraz in terms of sponsor appearances and fun things to take advantage of off the court, so much so that it wouldn’t be a stretch for Alcaraz to appear in New York for brand partnerships even if he weren’t playing.

Alcaraz also loves the energy at the U.S. Open. Not being in New York might occasion a smothering sense of FOMO. Missing two Grand Slams is tolerable; three feels much more dire.

As for fans’ expectations? Keep them low, as wrist injuries in tennis can be a bear to come back from, especially for someone whose game relies on his good, quick hands and a deft feel. If Alcaraz defies all norms as he usually does and makes it to the final without an ounce of touch lost in his drop shot, it’ll be even more delightful and impressive.

No one lights up a stadium as Alcaraz has the past three seasons with his dynamic, all-court game, his love of the spotlight, and his can-you-top-this flair for the improvisational. He does not win every match or every title, but his play elicits gasps from the crowds unlike anything anyone else does on the tennis court.

Those that are waiting for him in New York will hope to see all of that. How soon? Let’s see.