Carlos Alcaraz has been incredibly busy these past few weeks, but he’s still planning to compete at the upcoming Laver Cup.
It’s a bit of a contradiction, really. Alcaraz is one of the players who’s been pretty vocal about the current tennis calendar being way too packed and long.
But he’s also facing some backlash for those comments. Why? Because he keeps signing up for exhibition events.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | 22 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
The Laver Cup is one of those exhibitions, and it’s scheduled right after the US Open. Sure, the ATP officially recognizes it, but there are no ranking points up for grabs. It’s still just an exhibition at the end of the day.
Here’s where things get really tight with his schedule.
Alcaraz won the US Open on September 7th. The Laver Cup in San Francisco starts on September 19th. That’s barely any time to recover.
After that, he’s also on the Japan Open entry list.
With such a crazy tight schedule, you’d think the 22-year-old would skip the San Francisco exhibition and focus on the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo instead. That one starts on September 24th and actually matters for rankings.
But according to a new report from Spanish publication Marca, Alcaraz will be back on the training courts Saturday at his home base. Then he’s supposed to travel to San Francisco on Monday.
So much for taking a break.
Alcaraz changes his coaching setup for the upcoming weeks
Alcaraz’s commitment to the Laver Cup comes with a slight shake-up in his coaching team.
He’ll have Samuel Lopez with him at the Laver Cup. Lopez will then stick around and travel with Alcaraz to the Japan Open too.
After that, the world No. 1 will meet up with Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Shanghai Masters, which starts on October 1st.
Before all that kicks off in San Francisco, Alcaraz is set to show off his new hairstyle on the courts.
Alcaraz credits rival Jannik Sinner for his success
Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in two out of three Grand Slam finals they played this year. Pretty impressive when you think about it.
The Spaniard got the better of his Italian rival at Roland Garros and then again at the US Open.
Speaking after his win in New York, Alcaraz admitted that Sinner actually pushes him to become a better player.
"For me it’s great. I think we push each other to the limit every time. My practices are just focused to see how I can be better just to beat Jannik. So I think the rivalry, it is special, splitting Grand Slams, fighting for the great things."
It’s one of those rivalries that’s really good for tennis. Both players are young, both are incredibly talented, and they’re clearly bringing out the best in each other.
The fact that they’re splitting Grand Slams between them shows just how competitive things are at the top of men’s tennis right now.
