In recent days Carlos Alcaraz has expressed his opinion on a too dense seasonal tennis calendar: a topic on which many tennis players have expressed their opinion.
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At the media day of the ATP 500 in Beijing (a tournament that follows the Laver Cup and which sees several Top-10 players involved and a very rich program), the Spaniard returned to talk about it by drawing a parallel with the words of his rival Jannik Sinner.
"At the moment I feel in great shape and I'm coming to China to play my best tennis. The goal is to win the tournament as I do in any tournament I go to. The complaints of others? Many players went to the conference and had different reactions, even Sinner talked about it in the conference and didn't complain. I talk about myself and I think that from January to November the calendar is too busy, something must be done in this sense. Some people spoke about my performances in my calendar but we must clarify and we must separate exhibitions and tournaments because they are very different things," he said.
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In the pre-tournament press conference, Sinner had in fact analyzed: "Long season and too busy calendar: yes, it's true, but we tennis players can choose what to play or what not to play. Obviously there are some mandatory events but as a player you can choose and if necessary you can avoid playing. If you don't want to participate I won't participate, and for example last year I skipped some events because I preferred to train. "
Returning to Alcaraz, talking about the Laver Cup, the Spaniardcontinued: "It was a great feeling, we went there to win after the difficulties of the last few years of Team USA and we succeeded. It was a great tournament, in a team with players who are normally rivals, for me it was an incredible experience. I played well and this gave me more confidence for the next matches."
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In short, a rather different view between the two young tennis players.It is not a disagreement between the two champions, but perhaps it is the first time in which they have found themselves opposed even outside the tennis court.
In any case, the ATP 500 in Beijing will certainly be a rather interesting tournament considering the simultaneous presence of Jannik and Carlitos. The Italian, defending champion, will start against the Chilean tennis player Nicolas Jarry. It promises to be a tournament to follow also given the presence of several Top-10 and dangerous athletes such as Daniil Medvedev. The ATP No.1 touched on many topics in the media day of the tournament and, one of which is what happened at the Laver Cup, an exhibition competition that has seen many protagonists in these days but which did not see the Italian champion on the Berlin court.
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Jannik also talked about the words of Carlitos and Alexander Zverev on the schedule - as I wrote at the beginning of the article - underlining the many challenges during the season: "There are some decisions behind but the season is long, sometimes it is not easy."
Regarding the return to the court at Beijing, Jannik added: "Being here is fantastic, it's a special tournament and I can't wait to play. There are so many great athletes and the draw features several big names from the Tour. My goal is that I always want to improve, regardless of the result obtained. I really want to do well and I train for this, obviously I'm aware that there are still things to improve but it's all part of the process and this is one of the most interesting things."
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