A wrist cast at the Laureus World Sports Awards was the first real hint that something wasn’t quite right with Carlos Alcaraz. Until then, his absence felt like routine management. In fact his last outing at the Barcelona Open had looked perfectly normal on the surface. He won his first-round match against Otto Virtanen with no signs of trouble. But then he withdrew from the event, not playing his second-round match against Tomas Machac. At that point, it was considered a minor precautionary measure. Except, it didn’t stay minor for long.

Now with over 40 days to go for Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz sent his fans into a frenzy after announcing his withdrawal following his withdrawal from Rolland Garros. While the Alcaraz camp has kept concrete medical files close to their chest, Spanish media outlets like Mundo Deportivo are reporting that he is battling De Quervain’s tenosynovitis which is a painful inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath surrounding the tendons in the wrist and thumb, typically caused by repetitive mechanical stress. However a fascinating twist is coming directly from Rafael Nadal, himself.

Speaking to RNE Radio, Nadal said, “Luckily, it’s an injury that won’t be chronic, right? It’s something I know well because I broke the same thing twice as he’s broken it now,…He’s broken the same thing I broke twice.”

The 22-time Major champion assured that the injury concern for Alcaraz was not chronic, and the Mallorcan could speak with authority on the fact, as he suffered from a similar injury in his career. However, while referring to Alcaraz’s injury, Nadal used the word “break,” which is different from tenosynovitis, which is a type of inflammation.

Tenosynovitis is the inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath (synovium) that surrounds a tendon in the wrist, but it is not the breaking or tearing of muscles. Recovery from tenosynovitis usually takes about 4-6 weeks with rest and targeted recovery, but for a return to high-level activity, it might even take 3-6 months.

Nadal’s ‘break’ reference suggests fracture, not inflammation, contradicting initial reports. The term break may point to a wrist break, which could take a recovery time of up to 4 months.

It is evident from his Grand Slam withdrawals that Alcaraz and his team are treading on the side of caution with this injury. Tennis has a dark chapter when it comes to wrist injuries, as seen in the recent case of Dominic Thiem, who had to retire from the sport in his 20s. Even the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Nadal have suffered from this type of injury.

Now that Alcaraz is already out for the next two Grand Slams, it remains to be seen when the charismatic Spaniard will come back and how long it might take him to recover completely.

Will Carlos Alcaraz Recover From His Injury? Rafael Nadal Answers

Alcaraz has already dropped 1000 points by not playing in Rome and will lose another 2000 points as the defending champion at Roland Garros. Now that the Spaniard has made it clear that he is out of the grass-court season as well, which will see him drop points from his win at the Queen’s Club last year, and a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, which will mean a drop of about 3700 points, should he return during the hard-court swing. Should he return to Cincinnati, where he won the title last year, there is a possibility that he still might be No.2, as he is about 6000 points ahead of Zverev, who is No.3.

Alcaraz fans will be slightly relieved to know that Rafael Nadal has spoken about Alcaraz’s injury and is quite confident that the current World No. 2 will make a full recovery. Speaking on a podcast, Nadal was 100 percent sure that Alcaraz would recover, as he had suffered the same injury the former had in 2014 and 2016.

Nadal said it was quite possible for Alcaraz to feel disappointed about missing out on two Grand Slams and Masters tournaments, but the latter needed to prioritize his health so he could have the long career expected of him.

He explained, “I know that very well, because I had the same injury two times in my career, in 2014 and 2016. When I retired from Roland Garros 2016, I had exactly the same injury that he had. So, the main thing is he already achieved a lot that gives him some calm, and he will recover 100% from that, and he has plenty of years in front, and it’s about knowing that in listening to that from somebody like me that I went through all these things, I think in some way gives you some positivity in tough moments.”

Nadal withdrew from the 2016 French Open before his third-round match, the only time he pulled out of Roland Garros. However, he was back quickly, playing in the Olympics in Rio and winning gold in doubles. If his and Alcaraz’s injuries are similar in nature, then there is cause for optimism that Alcaraz will be back on court this year itself, possibly attempting to give a go at the US Open, where he is the defending champion.