Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has urged Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to listen to their bodies and manage their schedules if they want to sustain their dominance of men's tennis. The Argentine's advice arrives at a time when the pair's grip on the Grand Slams has visibly loosened. Alexander Zverev won two of the four majors in 2026, and both Alcaraz and Sinner have lost long stretches of the season to injury. As of 5 October 2026, Sinner is still out with a right knee problem, while Alcaraz is rebuilding his match rhythm after more than four months away.
What Del Potro Said About Alcaraz and Sinner
Del Potro, who beat Roger Federer to win the 2009 US Open, made his remarks in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca while attending this year's tournament in New York. His main point was about workload. Tennis, he said, is the most demanding sport because tournaments are staged almost every week.
Alcaraz and Sinner, he argued, are so far ahead of the rest that they can step away for five or six months without losing ranking places or many points. In his own playing days, he said, missing a couple of events after an injury could drop him from fourth in the rankings to eighth or even tenth. His conclusion was that "they must listen to their bodies".
Del Potro also backed Alcaraz's stated plan to enter only the tournaments that appeal to him. According to the Argentine, this is a smart approach that other players should copy.
His own career was repeatedly disrupted by wrist injuries, which is why the advice carries weight. A separate report based on the same interview says he spoke with Alcaraz earlier this summer and asked about his treatment. Alcaraz told him it was conservative, and del Potro encouraged him to stick with that plan rather than rush back. He described the four-to-five-month break as the right decision and said the wrist appeared to have responded well.
How the Grand Slam Run Came to an End
Between the 2024 Australian Open and the 2026 Australian Open, Alcaraz and Sinner won nine consecutive major titles between them. Sinner took the 2024 Australian Open, the 2024 US Open, the 2025 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2025. Alcaraz won the French Open in 2024 and 2025, Wimbledon in 2024, the 2025 US Open and then the 2026 Australian Open.
That sequence ended at Roland-Garros in June 2026. Alcaraz was absent with a wrist injury, and Sinner lost in the second round to Juan Manuel Cerundolo after struggling in a Paris heat wave. Zverev won the title. Sinner answered by winning Wimbledon in July, but the US Open in September went to Zverev as well, with neither Alcaraz nor Sinner reaching the final. Two of this year's four majors have therefore gone to someone else.
Alcaraz's 2026 Season: A Career Grand Slam, Then a Long Layoff
Alcaraz began the year with a landmark result. On 1 February he beat Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in the Australian Open final in Melbourne, collecting his first title at the tournament and his seventh major. At 22, he became the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam.
The season then turned. A right wrist injury ended his spring in April, and he stayed off the tour for more than four months, missing both the French Open and Wimbledon. He confirmed on 20 August that he would return at the US Open.
His comeback reached the quarter-finals, where Ben Shelton beat him 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) in four hours and 28 minutes. The match ended at 3.33 am, the latest finish in US Open history. Reuters reported that Alcaraz looked flat, made many forehand errors and was sick into a towel during a break, yet still forced a deciding set. The Express suggested that a lack of match fitness after such a long layoff may have caught up with him.
Alcaraz has since moved on to the Asian swing and, according to TNT Sports, reached the semi-finals of the Japan Open in Tokyo this week.
Sinner's 2026 Season: Dominant on Court, Stopped by Heat and a Knee Problem
Before his injury, Sinner was the most dominant player on tour. He won the first five Masters 1000 events of the season, at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. He then lost in the second round in Paris to Cerundolo, having led by two sets and 5-1 in the third, in extreme heat.
His reply came at Wimbledon, where he beat Zverev 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 on 12 July for a second straight title and his fifth major. Soon afterwards, a right knee problem stopped him. He pulled out of the hard-court events in Montreal and Cincinnati, and on 21 August he withdrew from the US Open, saying he needed more time to recover. It was his first missed Grand Slam since his major debut in 2019, and he became only the second world No. 1 to miss the US Open since the rankings began in 1973, after Pete Sampras in 1999.
By the time he withdrew, Sinner had a 44-3 record and six titles in 2026. He later skipped the China Open in Beijing and, on 3 October, withdrew from the Rolex Shanghai Masters, giving no timeline for a return. An Italian journalist, Gabriele Parpiglia, has reported that the problem is iliotibial band syndrome, an inflammation linked to the band of tissue running along the outside of the knee. That diagnosis has not been confirmed by Sinner's team in the sources reviewed.
Zverev and the Chasing Pack
Zverev, 29, has been the main beneficiary. On 7 June he beat Italy's Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in the French Open final to win his first major, becoming the first German man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open. After losing the Wimbledon final to Sinner, he beat American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on 13 September to win the US Open and a second major. It was his third Grand Slam final in a row.
The result also extended a long wait for American men: no US player has won a major singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open. Shelton, who reached his first Grand Slam final, took a set off Zverev but could not hold on.
Other veterans are still in the picture. Djokovic, who lost the Australian Open final to Alcaraz, went out in the first round of the US Open to Mariano Navone, according to CBS Sports. He has since reached the final of the China Open in Beijing, based on Sky Sports reporting.
Key Facts and Figures
- Australian Open 2026: Alcaraz beat Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
- French Open 2026: Zverev beat Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
- Wimbledon 2026: Sinner beat Zverev 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
- US Open 2026: Zverev beat Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2.
- Sinner's 2026 record at the time of his US Open withdrawal: 44 wins, 3 losses, six titles.
- Rankings on 3 October: Sinner 11,000 points, Zverev 9,670, according to Tennis Majors.
Why the ATP Calendar Matters for Alcaraz and Sinner
The men's rankings are built on points earned over a rolling 52 weeks, so a long absence normally means a steady slide down the list. Del Potro's argument is that Alcaraz and Sinner are so far ahead that the slide is slow for them. Sinner shows the point: he was defending only 50 points in Shanghai, and he still led Zverev by 1,330 points on 3 October.
The cushion has limits, though. Rankings decide seedings and, ultimately, who finishes at No. 1, and Zverev can overtake Sinner as early as the Shanghai fortnight, according to Tennis Majors. Sinner also has a strong record at the events still ahead of him. He is a past champion in Vienna (2023 and 2025), at the Paris Masters (2025) and at the ATP Finals (2024 and 2025), and he has helped Italy win the Davis Cup Finals twice, in 2023 and 2024. Missing more of these events would cost him chances to add to those results.
What We Do Not Yet Know
Several questions remain open. Sinner has not given a return date, and his team has not publicly confirmed the reported diagnosis. Alcaraz has played through a deep US Open run and is now competing in Tokyo, but it is too early to say how much his wrist will limit his schedule. Del Potro's account of Alcaraz choosing his tournaments comes second-hand, and the sources reviewed do not show Alcaraz announcing a reduced calendar.
It is also unclear whether Zverev's two majors mark the start of a broader shift or a season shaped by absences. Shelton and Cobolli both reached major finals this year, which suggests more players now believe they can compete, but that is an interpretation rather than a measured trend.
Where the Story Stands
For now, men's tennis has two champions who can still win almost anything when fit, and a season that has shown how much depends on their health. Del Potro's message is that protecting their bodies matters more than playing every event. The next few weeks, including Sinner's possible return in Vienna from 24 October, will show how much of that advice they follow.
