{"id":2111335,"date":"2026-08-25T19:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2111335"},"modified":"2026-08-25T19:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:00:44","slug":"patrick-mcenroe-tells-carlos-alcaraz-what-he-must-do-to-be-considered-the-us-open-favourite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2111335","title":{"rendered":"Patrick McEnroe tells Carlos Alcaraz what he must do to be considered the US Open favourite"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Patrick McEnroe tells Carlos Alcaraz what he must do to be considered the US Open favourite<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/liam-mcmillen\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Liam McMillen                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"25 Aug 2026 8:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"25 Aug 2026 8:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1787684444\"><br \/>\n                            25 Aug 2026 8:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                   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<\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Patrick McEnroe tells Carlos Alcaraz what he must do to be considered the US Open favourite\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alcaraz-1-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>\u2019s return at this year\u2019s US Open is one of the biggest talking points of the entire tennis season, with many wondering what the Spaniard will be like at the Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz has not played since April, when he suffered a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open, forcing him out of the Roland Garros and Wimbledon.<\/p>\n<p>The star has never spent a longer time out, but he is still one of the favourites to win the US Open, such is his level when he hits a tennis court.<\/p>\n<p>With no Jannik Sinner at the US Open either, Alcaraz will be hoping to hit the ground running and return to winning ways almost instantly at Grand Slam level.<\/p>\n<p>Patrick McEnroe, speaking to ESPN, believes Alcaraz needs to get through his first two matches at the Grand Slam in order to earn his favourite tag.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about the open field at the US Open this year, Patrick McEnroe dubbed the 2026 tournament as a \u201cgolden opportunity\u201d for the chasing pack, including the likes of Ben Shelton.<\/p>\n<h2>More Carlos Alcaraz news<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/boris-becker-carlos-alcaraz-us-open-comeback-favourite\">Boris Becker gives honest opinion on Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s US Open return and title chances<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-speaks-us-open-comeback-2026\">Carlos Alcaraz speaks out about US Open comeback and reveals what he has \u2018missed\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The former Grand Slam champion added: \u201cObviously if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> comes back and gets through a few matches, looks good, he\u2019ll quickly become the favorite.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, he\u2019s the favorite right now, but he\u2019d quickly become a bigger favorite. There\u2019s no doubt the fact he hasn\u2019t played since the spring, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\">Sinner<\/a> out, this is a monster opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz is the second seed at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/us-open\">US Open<\/a> this year, behind only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alexander-zverev\">Alexander Zverev<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The star has instant pressure on him upon his return, as he won the tournament in 2025. That means he\u2019s defending the full 2000 points at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n<p>If he suffers an early exit, he will suffer a severe tumble down the rankings, kicking off his return to the sport in the worst possible way.<\/p>\n<p>In order to get up to speed at Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz has also signed up to play the US Open Mixed Doubles alongside multi-time Grand Slam champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/serena-williams\">Serena Williams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Williams and Alcaraz are set to play Lloyd Glasspool and Erin Routliffe in their first match of the US Open Mixed Doubles, and they will play the evening session on Tuesday, 25th August.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz does not have much experience in the mixed doubles, although he did play the inaugural event alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/emma-raducanu\">Emma Raducanu<\/a> in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>They were beaten in the first round by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jack-draper\">Jack Draper<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jessica-pegula\">Jessica Pegula<\/a>, so they only played one match at the tournament, and Alcaraz will be hoping to have a deeper run alongisde Williams in order to gain more match practice ahead of the main draw.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patrick McEnroe tells Carlos Alcaraz what he must do to be considered the US Open favourite Liam McMillen 25 Aug 2026 8:00 PM Carlos Alcaraz at the World Cup final Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s return at this year\u2019s US Open is one of the biggest talking points of the entire tennis season, with many wondering what the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2111335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2111335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2111335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2111335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2111335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}