Carlos Alcaraz has been working towards with nice vitality and depth in current weeks on the academy of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. As in earlier years, the previous world no 1 has determined to not play official tournaments earlier than the Australian Open.
The Completely happy Slam is the one Main event that the younger Spaniard has by no means received and the prospect of triumphing at Melbourne Park fills him with enormous motivations. The present world quantity 3 reached the quarterfinals on the AO in 2024, dropping to German Alexander Zverev in a match characterised by too many ups and downs.
The German champion overtook him in second place within the ATP rating within the final tournaments of final season, creating the chance that Alcaraz may face Jannik Sinner already within the semifinals in Melbourne. The 2 younger champions have equally shared the 4 Grand Slam titles in 2024 and also will be the benchmarks in 2025, with the ability to attain peaks a lot larger than all their opponents.
Carlos Alcaraz & Novak Djokovic, Roland Garros 2023© Stream screenshot
Carlos’ 2024 has been considerably overshadowed by Jannik’s achievements, who’ve been just about unstoppable over the previous twelve months. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old from Murcia received the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships whereas additionally triumphing in Indian Wells for the second 12 months in a row.
The 4-time Grand Slam champion will comply with a distinct schedule in 2025, prioritizing tournaments on laborious courts instantly after the AOs. Carlitos is not going to play tournaments on pink clay in South America as he has finished in current seasons, however he’ll take part within the ATP 500 in Rotterdam and Doha in February.
The Spanish ace performed a few exhibition matches in the USA earlier than beginning coaching in Spain, a alternative that generated discussions amongst followers and insiders. Some argue that Alcaraz ought to have prevented these distractions and centered on the brand new season immediately.
Woodforde speaks about Alcaraz
In an extended interview with ‘Tennis365’, tennis legend Mark Woodforde mirrored on Carlitos’ low season: “My only concern during the off-season was Alcaraz’s decision to fly to America to play some exhibition matches. That was a bit of a red flag for me.
After playing in those matches, it will be interesting to see how he kicks off the season after that decision.
To travel to the US and play some matches when he could have been resting and preparing, I was not a big fan of the exhibitions he played.”
Carlos Alcaraz, Laver Cup 2024© Stream screenshot
He continued: “I don’t think he is the complete player yet and we saw that at the Australian Open last year.
He ended up losing against Alexander Zverev with what I would describe as an unusual performance that went against a player who was a little battle-weary.
Zverev was coming off the back of some tough five-setters and against an opponent who is not at his freshest, you would think that elongating the points would have been a good tactic for Alcaraz and yet he tried to bulldozer his way through the match.
That highlighted the youthful exuberance Alcaraz brings to the game. He still has that youthful mindset, but he is a fast learner and I’d expect him to do well at the Australian Open this year.”
Carlos desires to make a great begin
The younger Spaniard has by no means performed his finest tennis in Australia thus far in his profession and can attempt to reverse course within the 2025 version of the Completely happy Slam. The 21-year-old from Murcia is nearly 5000 factors behind Sinner within the ATP rating and can want a really constant season to attempt to undermine his management. Beginning properly on the Australian Open would even be essential by way of confidence, ready to grasp what Jannik’s destiny will likely be in relation to the doping case trial.
2024 confirmed the peaks and weaknesses of Carlitos, who dropped so much within the second half of the season. The previous world No.1 suffered tremendously from his loss to Novak Djokovic within the closing of the Paris Olympics and disillusioned expectations on the US Open, the place he was eradicated within the first week.
Carlos Alcaraz, Australian Open© Stream screenshot
The Spaniard performed very properly in Beijing initially of autumn defeating Sinner in some of the spectacular matches of the 12 months, earlier than dropping once more between October and November. Carlos didn’t transcend the quarterfinals on the Rolex Shanghai Masters, being prematurely eradicated each at Paris-Bercy and on the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Alcaraz would have favored to finish 2024 in type by serving to his illustrious compatriot Rafa Nadal win the Davis Cup, however Spain was eradicated by Netherlands within the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old from Murcia performed the second singles and the decisive doubles, during which he paid for his lack of expertise on this specialty.
