By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Carlos Alcaraz returns to the U.S. Open on Monday after nearly five months on the sidelines with a wrist injury but his fellow professionals are confident the defending champion will need little time to find his feet at Flushing Meadows.
The seven-times Grand Slam champion had been out since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open second round in mid-April, but returned to mixed doubles action in New York and made the quarter-finals with Serena Williams
last week.
Alcaraz had planned his long-awaited singles comeback at this month's Cincinnati Open, where he won the tournament last year and used the momentum to claim a second U.S. Open title, but ultimately withdrew to continue his recovery.
"I think I was a little surprised he didn't play Cincinnati but still played here ... I thought, 'wow, that's a tough thing to do' but he's a special player," American Jessica Pegula told reporters on Sunday.
"It may be also a little bit different for the men, three out of five (sets). I do think it gives a little more leeway for him to work his way into matches, whereas if it's two out of three, like for the women, that's a little bit tougher."
Pegula said the 23-year-old's ability to thrive on the big stage would help ease the transition back to singles competition after such a lengthy absence.
"He's a super-charismatic, friendly, outgoing person. He's going to feed off the energy no matter what," she added.
"I don't think he's forgotten how to play. If he can win his first couple of rounds, he's going to find his form very fast."
Few players on the tour can draw on a resume as strong as Alcaraz's, with the Spaniard completing the career Grand Slam at this year's Australian Open, and American Tommy Paul said a player of his calibre could never be discounted.
"I mean, it's so different for everybody, and it's different depending on what you're dealing with. For me it was lower body, so my timing on the ball never really went away, but my movement might have gone away," Paul said.
"His was his wrist so he's probably moving great and maybe not timing the ball as well. I'm not sure. I mean, he could be playing unbelievable. We'll see.
"It's not easy but he's a great player and a great champion, so I'm sure if he's feeling good, he'll figure it out."
Ninth seed Taylor Fritz said Alcaraz had the ability to surprise anyone.
"What else would he do? If he feels he's healthy enough to play, why not play? That's my opinion," Fritz added.
"It's not necessarily easy to do it. But if you can get past those first couple of rounds, you start to feel good. You start to get in that match shape, and you have the confidence.
"At that point there's no reason why he couldn't find form and play really well. Who knows?"
Alcaraz will play Russian Roman Safiullin in his opener on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
