Carlos Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will ‘kill us’
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz of Team Europe returning the ball to the United States' Ben Shelton of Team World during their 2024 Laver Cup men's singles tennis match in Berlin on Sept 21, which Alcaraz won 6-4, 6-4.
PHOTO: AFP
BERLIN – Carlos Alcaraz hit out at the tennis calendar on Sept 21, claiming the schedule is “going to kill us”.
The 21-year-old French Open and Wimbledon champion is currently taking part in the Laver Cup, his 13th tournament of 2024.
Before arriving in Berlin, the Spanish star had already played 50 singles matches in 2024, winning three titles and also collecting a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.
“Probably they are going to kill us in some way,” Alcaraz said on Sept 21 after defeating Ben Shelton in straight sets at the Laver Cup.
Alcaraz said that players had different opinions on the topic, but in his view “the calendar is so tight”, adding: “Right now there are a lot of injuries.
“A lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that.”
He added that the crowded schedule meant he sometimes struggled to motivate himself on the tour.
“Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a tournament. I’m not going to lie – I have felt this way a few times already.
“Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all. But as I’ve said many, many times, I play my best tennis when I smile and enjoy it on court. That’s the best option to keep motivating (myself).”
At the US Open, where he won his first Grand Slam title in 2022, Alcaraz suffered a shock second-round exit at the hands of then 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.
He admitted he had blundered by not taking a longer break between the Olympics and New York.
At the Paris Games, he lost an emotionally draining final at Roland Garros to Novak Djokovic, just weeks after sweeping the Serb off the court to retain his Wimbledon title.
“I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough,” he said after his US Open horror show.
“Probably it wasn’t enough. Probably I came here without as much energy as I thought I was going to (have).
“I have to think about it and I have to learn about it.”
World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, also playing at the Laver Cup, agreed with Alcaraz and demanded action.
“The ATP doesn’t care about our opinion – it’s a money business,” said the German.
“It’s the longest season in sports. It’s unnecessarily long. We have an unnecessary amount of tournaments.”
Asked if the players would strike, Zverev said “we’re not allowed to boycott, we get fined if we don’t play tournaments”, adding “the tour goes on without you”.
“We need to do something about it. It’s not an easy solution, but a solution which needs to be made,” said the 27-year-old.
Alcaraz and Zverev will not finish their seasons until late November when the Davis Cup Finals take place in Spain.
The 2025 season begins on Dec 27 with the United Cup in Australia.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz hopes he and Jannik Sinner can carve out a storied rivalry like that of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
“I hope so,” Alcaraz said when asked if he and world No. 1 Sinner could emulate the dominance of the “Big Three”, who amassed 66 Grand Slam titles between them.
“A lot of people talk about it. And I hear it, I’m not going to lie. I hope that our rivalry is going to be almost like what the Big Three had during their whole career.” AFP
