Carlos Alcaraz played his first match in 2025, although it was only an exhibition against Alex de Minaur at Melbourne Park. The former world No. 1 was defeated by the Australian ace in the super-tiebreak, showing some positive and negative things during the challenge.
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A few days before the start of the Australian Open, the young Spanish champion will still have to practice hard to be in top shape. There is no doubt that the new movement of the servant has been a benefit to this shot, making it smoother and more unpredictable.
Using a racket that is five grams heavier helps Carlitos unleash even more power with his forehand, something that could be very beneficial on faster surfaces. At the same time, the match against de Minaur showed that the 4-time Grand Slam champion still has to work on some aspects of his game.
A heavier racket takes away some control, which is why the 21-year-old from Murcia has made so many unforced mistakes against the Australian. In addition, his backhand often seemed to suffer on this court and the errors were too many for a player of this caliber.
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Carlitos can improve
The current world number 3 still has a few days before the start of the Happy Slam and will be able to improve these details.
On the latest edition of his podcast, former ATP ace Andy Roddick revealed Carlitos areas of improvement: Being healthy and doing it all the time and winning 70-plus matches like Jannik Sinner did in 2024.
He also added: We forget that he didnt win a tournament between Wimbledon and Indian Wells, and then he missed the entire clay-court season and then he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open. He then beat Sinner over in Asia and then loses a couple of weird ones at the end of the year. What went right in 2024? I won majors! I won my second Wimbledon title.
