Carlos ‌Alcaraz will return to competitive tennis at ⁠the US ⁠Open, ending a more than four-month absence caused by a wrist injury, in ⁠a bid to defend his title in New York.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion confirmed ⁠on Thursday that he will play the August 30-September 13 tournament after withdrawing from the Barcelona Open in April and missing the French Open, ‌Wimbledon and the North American hard-court events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Alcaraz had initially targeted Cincinnati, where he won last year, for his comeback. But he opted to give his wrist more time to recover.

He has gradually ⁠increased his workload in recent ⁠weeks and trained with Denmark’s Holger Rune in Murcia as he tested the injury at higher intensity.

His return was also ⁠given a football-style announcement on Instagram by transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano, who posted “Here we go!” ⁠alongside confirmation that Alcaraz would be back at the US Open.

New York holds particular significance for Alcaraz. He won ‌his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2022, becoming the youngest player to reach ‌world ‌number one in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings.

Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in January with his triumph, at age 22, at the Australian Open.

He added the ATP hard court title in Doha in February.

But after withdrawing in Barcelona he pulled out of tournaments in Madrid and Rome before withdrawing from Roland Garros, where he was the two-time reigning champion.

He also missed Wimbledon, where rival Jannik Sinner prevailed for the second year in a row on the London grass, beating French Open winner Alexander Zverev in the final.

Zverev had moved into second in the world rankings ahead of Alcaraz after Wimbledon, but Alcaraz has since regained the number two spot ahead of the German.

Until this year Alcaraz had missed just one Grand Slam since making his main draw debut at the 2021 Australian Open, missing Melbourne in 2023 with a hamstring injury.