Carlos Alcaraz’s 2025 will start directly at the Australian Open. As in recent years, the young Spanish champion will not play any official tournament before the Happy Slam, in which he will try to get a better result than in past editions. The AO is the tournament in which Carlitos has played worst up to this point in his career, not only because he has never won it, but also because he has never gone beyond the quarterfinals (reached in 2024) and had to miss it due to injury in 2023.
The current world number 3 is practicing with great intensity in Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy and will fly to Australia at the beginning of January, and then play a couple of exhibition matches in the week before the Australian Open. The 4-time Grand Slam champion has also achieved amazing results in 2024, having won Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but ending the season almost 5000 points behind his great rival Jannik Sinner was a big setback for him.
Carlos Alcaraz, Queens 2023© Stream screenshot
Alcaraz aims to express a more consistent level next year, so as to get closer to the top position of the ATP rankings again. The 21-year-old from Murcia is working both mentally and technically, where he is making some changes to his serve. Carlos and his team know exactly where to intervene and the help of a top coach like Samuel Lopez will be very important in 2025. Unlike past years, the Spanish champion will not play on red clay after the AO but will participate in tournaments on the hard court.
The former world No.1 will be present in Rotterdam, Doha and possibly even Dubai, before defending his title in Indian Wells in March. Before the American Masters 1000, the Spaniard included an exhibition match with Frances Tiafoe in Puerto Rico.
Rennae Stubbs on Alcaraz’s game
On the latest edition of her well-known podcast, tennis legend Rennae Stubbs revealed the main issue in Alcaraz’s game: “It will be interesting to see how Carlos responds next year because obviously winning the French Open and Wimbledon is just unheard of.
It’s such a hard thing to do. But he has some question marks about playing on the hard courts against Sinner and Zverev, against these guys who have really big power.
Carlos Alcaraz, Madrid Masters© Stream screenshot
She continued: “There’s a couple of knocks I have on Carlos – and we are talking about a really high level. But I think he is not a big guy, he is like 5ft 10 or 5ft 11.
He needs to develop a flatter serve. He needs to develop his serve a bit better and I think he needs to hit his spots better.
Roger Federer wasn’t a big guy, but he could hit the corners like nobody else and I think Carlos needs to get his accuracy with his serving better and if he doesn’t hit the corners better he’s not getting free points.
Jannik Sinner gets free point after free point, Zverev free point after free point with his big massive serve.
So I think Alcaraz on a fast court like the US Open and Australian Open, he needs to get more accurate with the first serve. I also think he needs to get just a little bit better with his shot selection.”
A generational talent
According to many insiders, Carlitos is the brightest talent of the last 20 years. John McEnroe crowned him a few days ago, stating that the Spaniard has all the skills necessary to make history in this sport. There are still several aspects on which the 21-year-old from Murcia can improve, with the pressure of having to continue working to keep up with Sinner’s amazing pace. The Italian ace has moved the bar even higher in 2024, playing an almost unreal season that has entered among the best of all time.
Carlos Alcaraz, Laver Cup 2024© Stream screenshot
Despite two Majors and a Masters 1000, Alcaraz is almost 5000 points behind his great rival. The world number 1 has left everyone speechless with his eight titles (two Grand Slams, three Masters 1000, two ATP 500 and the Nitto ATP Finals), with a balance of 73 wins and just 6 losses.
2025 could be the right year to finally see a Grand Slam final between these two young champions, who are clearly destined to mark an era. Everyone’s hope is that Jannik and Carlos will improve each other like the Big 3 did in the previous era. Their rivalry is fundamental for the development of tennis around the world, waiting for some other young players to reach their level in the near future. Holger Rune, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Alex Michelsen and Jakub Mensik will have to take a big step forward in 2025.
Tennis World USA