Carlos Alcaraz did a very hard preparation in Juan Carlos Ferrero's Academy before arriving in Melbourne, where the Australian Open will be played starting on Sunday 12 January. The Happy Slam is the only major tournament that the young Spaniard has never won and he has always had difficulty playing his best tennis here so far.
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The former world No.1 had to miss the 2023 edition due to an injury sustained during the pre-season, while last year he was defeated by Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. The 4-time Grand Slam champion wants to achieve a better result in 2025 and has been preparing with great dedication in recent weeks by making some changes to his game.
The 21-year-old from Murcia worked mainly on his serve, a shot that does not yet have the necessary effectiveness and unpredictability on fast surfaces. The current world number 3 will use a five grams heavier racket this year and is also experimenting with a new type of strings.
Carlitos had a practice session with Novak Djokovic, before playing two exhibition matches in the coming days against Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin.
Becker warns Alcaraz
Unlike previous years, the Spanish champion will not play tournaments on red clay in South America after the Australian Open. The former world No.1 is entered in the prestigious ATP 500 in Rotterdam and Doha in February.
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In the first episode of the new podcast 'Becker Petkovic', German legend Boris Becker invited Alcaraz to think more about his schedule: He had a bad tournament schedule in 2024 because he played far too much.
Carlos is a diva on the court in a positive sense, a true artist. But you can only let him out when it really counts. He has to be on fire when he goes on the court. You dont want to see an average Alcaraz, you want to see someone who is at 100 percent.
His team needs to focus less on the money and more on titles and the world ranking. Sure, he gets seven-figure appearance fees for show fights in the off-season, but coaches and managers simply have to protect him better.
