Carlos Alcaraz's game is one of the most difficult of all to implement, because it involves many high-risk shots and requires you to always be in top physical shape. For this reason, the former world number 1 has had several ups and downs during this season that have prevented him from approaching the first position in the ATP ranking.
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The 21-year-old from Murcia lifted the trophy in Paris and London, won the Indian Wells Masters 1000 for the second year in a row and clinched the silver medal for his country at the Paris Olympics, but ended 2024 in third place and is almost 5000 points behind his great rival Jannik Sinner (and behind German ace Sascha Zverev).
Carlitos has admitted several times that the Italian ace represents his perfect nemesis, being the only player able to counter him among the exponents of the Next Gen. The Spaniard was earlier than the Italian, having started winning big titles as early as 2022, but Jannik has made impressive improvements over the past twelve months.
The world No. 1 has improved his serve, makes very few unforced errors and has suffered only six defeats from January until today. Everyone knows that Alcaraz will have to do a great job during the pre-season to shine in 2025, avoiding those drops during the year that are affecting his ranking.
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The young Spaniard's 2025 will begin directly at the Australian Open, in which he will try to win the fifth Major title of his career. The 21-year-old from Murcia reached the quarterfinals as his best result in Melbourne and usually struggles to play his best tennis at the beginning of the season.
Alcarazcan create more
The 4-time Grand Slam champion will carry out part of his preparation with Jack Draper, who impressed everyone in 2024 by reaching his first Major semifinal in New York (he lost to World No.1 Sinner).
On the latest edition of Eye of the Coach, top coach Patrick Mouratoglou reflected on the differences between Jannik and Carlitos: Alcaraz can create more. He has this extra power and he can fight with him in terms of movement also.
The thing is, Alcaraz is making quite a lot of unforced errors whereas Sinner doesnt, so the matches between them, there are a lot of ups and downs and it changes often.
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He continued: When Alcaraz plays at his best, I think hes able to be better than Sinner but he cannot play like this a whole match, and Sinner is always stable.
Sinner can hit a winner on every single shot. Thats the feeling. You can never relax. Youre always in danger, always in every shot.
An uncomfortable comparison
Although they are still very young, someone has already started to compare Alcaraz and Sinner to the Big 3. The two young champions seem to have the right skills to dominate the men's tour in the next 10-15 years, but perhaps it is still too early to compare them with the three best players ever.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have maintained an impressive level for nearly two decades, defeating several generations of players and breaking any records. It will not be easy for Jannik and Carlos to match their longevity and it is right that their careers are not affected by these constant comparisons.
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Recently, ATP legend Mats Wilander paid tribute to Sinner and Alcaraz: "They are following in the footsteps of the 'Big-3' in terms of level. I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way anyone has ever played better tennis, that the tennis ball has done more different, complicated, difficult things than the ball is doing between Sinner and Alcaraz.
Fans and insiders would like a clash between the Italian and the Spaniard in a Grand Slam final. The two leaders of the ATP tour have never faced each other for the most important titles, an important loophole within their rivalry. The rivalry between Federer, Nadal and Djokovic has become so iconic thanks to their finals in the most important tournaments on the calendar.
Some matches between Jannik and Carlitos have been really beautiful, such as the famous quarterfinal of the 2022 US Open or the final of the 2023 Miami Open. In 2024, the Spaniard prevailed in the three official head-to-head matches after always losing the first set (in Indian Wells, at the French Open and in the final of the Beijing ATP 500). The Italian took a little revenge at the 'Six Kings Slam' in Saudi Arabia, an exhibition that offered 6 million dollars for the winner.
