PUMPING THE BRAKES

Carlos Alcaraz Makes Shocking Admission About His Tennis Future

The 23-year-old superstar says he may skip future tournaments to rest his body.

Tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz says he will be taking more breaks from the game as his career progresses—even if it means missing tournaments. The Spaniard made the admission Tuesday after winning in the second round of the U.S. Open. Alcaraz, 23, missed four months—and two major tournaments, Wimbledon and the French Open—this year after injuring his right wrist. That involuntary time off appears to have shown him the benefits of long breaks. “I took more than I wanted, to be honest, but you know, seeing how tight is the calendar, obviously I don’t want to have this break because (of) an injury,” he said. “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 suggested that these breaks may well prevent injuries that would otherwise force him to miss more time. “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.”