Carlos Alcaraz issued the coldest response when asked about wrist injury recovery

Carlos Alcaraz is making progress in his recovery from a wrist injury, and the Spaniard issued a cold response when asked about his return.

Alcaraz suffered his wrist injury in April, forcing him to withdraw from the Barcelona Open later that month before missing the French Open and Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old was in unstoppable form before this setback, completing a career Grand Slam at the age of 22 with victory at the Australian Open and then producing more world-class levels during the Qatar Open triumph.

Firmly established as the world number two behind Jannik Sinner at the start of the year, Alcaraz has since dropped down to number three in the rankings after Alexander Zverev reached his first Wimbledon final.

But the Spaniard is determined to recapture the levels he reached at the beginning of 2026 when he is expected to return to action in mid-August.

Alcaraz is likely to compete at the Cincinnati Open, defending the title he won at the Masters event in 2025, and that is arguably the perfect preparation for his return to major action at the US Open.

Currently, however, sources close to the player state that he is "training at a low intensity" and has not been able to hit the ball with complete freedom in practice sessions since getting injured.

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While that update from earlier this week wasn't encouraging ahead of the Cincinnati Open, the two-time Wimbledon champion has since said something that will get the fans excited.

Carlos Alcaraz promises to hit the ball harder than ever when he returns

Serena Williams' coach, Rennae Stubbs, has since discussed Alcaraz's comeback plan on the latest episode of her Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.

“Word on the street is that he is going to try and play Cincinnati,” said the Australian.

“If that is the case, I can’t imagine he would have gone back to Spain. I would imagine he would centre himself here on a hard court somewhere and practise before Cincinnati.

“It will be a great relief to tennis fans around the world to see him back playing.”

The former doubles world number one then shared what Alcaraz said in response to one of his messages on Instagram at the end of June.

"Every now and again, he does respond to me on Instagram,” Stubbs revealed.

“When he was hitting balls, I did say it was great to see him back, and he said, ‘Hopefully, soon I will be hitting it harder’."

Wrist injuries are common in tennis and usually stem from repetitive impact and striking the ball relentlessly.

Alcaraz is one of the hardest hitters of a ball, generating explosive, triple-hitting forehands on demand.

That was arguably the reason for his wrist injury, first noticing the discomfort in his wrist while returning a serve from Finland’s Otto Virtanen in April at the Barcelona Open.

Alcaraz was then forced to withdraw from the tournament a day later, and while that injury has been challenging to overcome over the past three months, the world number three clearly wants to take things to the next level once he's back.