Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he worked very painstakingly during the off-season to improve some aspects of his game. The Spanish champion was very pleased with his results in 2024, in which he became the youngest ever to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, but he knew he had to keep practicing to become more consistent throughout the season.
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Although he has won two Grand Slam titles and a Masters 1000, the 21-year-old from Murcia finished last season in third place in the ATP rankings almost 5000 points behind his great rival Jannik Sinner and also behind Sascha Zverev.
The current world number 3 has added a new coach to his team Samuel Lopez and has made some changes especially to the movement of the serve. This shot can still be improved and Carlitos has worked it in the last month in order to make it smoother and more unpredictable.
Alcaraz's serve improves
From what we saw in his first two matches at the 2025 Australian Open, the signs seem positive and lead to optimism. The 4-time Grand Slam champion has not only dominated his opponents, but has shown remarkable progresses with his serve and the data certify it. The average speed of his first serve in the 2025 edition of the AO is 7 km/h higher than that of the 2024 AO (197 km/h vs. 190 km/h).
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The movement seems more fluid and Alcaraz conveys the feeling of being more confident with this shot than in the past.
The former world No.1 has made no secret of his desire to win the first Major of the new season, a tournament in which he has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals so far. Last year, his run ended in the quarterfinals against Alexander Zverev.
His next opponent will be Portuguese ace Nuno Borges, who has a great feeling for this tournament and who will be able to enter the court with nothing to lose against one of the top favorites for the title.
