Carlos Alcaraz has said he plans to take longer breaks from tennis in the future, arguing that the increasingly crowded calendar makes it impossible to play every tournament. The Spaniard made the comments after advancing to the third round of the US Open with a four-set win over Jaime Faria. Alcaraz, who recently returned after a four-month absence caused by a wrist injury, admitted that he did not want his latest break to happen because of an injury.
“I took more than I wanted, to be honest, but seeing how tight is the calendar, obviously I don’t want to have this break because an injury. But in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all,” Alcaraz said.
He also criticised the growing number of major events on the calendar. “I think they adding more important tournaments. In a way they making us to play,” he said. “You can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some Grand Slams, and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP required us to play,” the Spaniard said.
Carlos Alcaraz also warned that the demanding schedule could lead to more injuries and fatigue among players. “So it’s impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future,” he added.
Carlos Alcaraz overcomes Jaime Faria to reach US Open 2026 third round after coming back from wrist injury
Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a slow start to beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria and reach the third round of the 2026 US Open. The defending champion saved the opening set, 4-6, and turned things around, posting two more sets, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, to win in two hours and forty minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The win was yet another positive for Alcaraz, who is playing in New York after a long hiatus due to a wrist injury. Faria was a tough opener, and the pressure was on the Spaniard as both his serving and attacking game threatened to break through early.
Still, as soon as Alcaraz got comfortable, he settled back in and held off the pressure with ease. The win was a further statement on the Spaniard’s game, as he was able to recover from the first set. Alcaraz was able to make the changes and adjustments needed to move past Faria and continue his title defense in New York, as he prepares for the third round against Chinese Wu Yibing.
