Former British number one Greg Rusedski admitted he was wrong and had to eat his words regarding Carlos Alcaraz’s recovery and performance at the US Open. Rusedski openly doubted that Alcaraz would be ready to play best-of-five-set major tennis or even make it through the US Open after missing 139 days with a right wrist injury.
After watching Alcaraz defeat Roman Safiullin in the first round and surge past Jaime Faria in the second round, Rusedski stated on his podcast that the comeback “defied logic” and happily admitted he was wrong. “I’m very pleased to eat my words that I thought he’d lose in the first round and that I thought there’s no way he’d play,” said the former world No 4.
“So, sometimes people defy logic and defy the way you come back to our sport. And he’s doing both at the moment. Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic] had that aura, and [Jannik] Sinner and Alcaraz were developing it. “So when Carlos came back, we weren’t quite sure whether that aura was still there to start with. And he needed to convince himself in a way.
“But now, now I feel like he’s the real Carlos Alcaraz, and we’re looking at how high you can take this.” The 1997 US Open finalist also claimed Alcaraz has been “pretty fortunate” with his draw at Flushing Meadows. “To me, he looks like he’s gaining in confidence and I think that’s almost as important as the physical side. The good sign is the wrist’s okay,” Rusedski assessed.