"It’s not easy, but we’re trying": Carlos Alcaraz shares what he is trying to do with ATP for player welfare

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is one of the players who has become the face of men’s tennis. At the age of just 22, Alcaraz has already lifted five Grand Slam titles. Those numbers brought Alcaraz into the limelight, much earlier than many expected him to be.

After becoming one of the best players in the world, Alcaraz has made his voice heard on different issues as well. He was one of the highest-profile athletes who spoke out about the demanding tennis schedule in 2024. “Sometimes I didn’t feel motivated at all,” said Alcaraz last year. “It is a difficult moment. As I said many times, you know, the calendar is so tight, a lot of tournaments, no days off or not as many days off as I want. Probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments. So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way.”

Those comments were not appreciated by some members of the tennis community, especially when Alcaraz decided to feature in exhibition events such as the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia. That, however, did not stop Alcaraz from raising his voice for the welfare of the players. In a recent interview with Financial Times, Alcaraz stated that he is working with the authorities to find a way to have a better schedule for players, but admitted that it was not an easy job. “We’re trying to change the schedule a bit, seeing if they can remove more tournaments so we can have more rest time, more vacation time,” said Alcaraz. “It’s not easy, but we’re trying.”

This year, Alcaraz has featured in two out of three Grand Slam finals, winning one and losing the other. On both occasions, Alcaraz’s opponent was Italy’s Jannik Sinner. At the French Open, Alcaraz made a miraculous comeback and saved three championship points in the fourth set, eventually lifting the title in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4,7-6, 7-6. The match lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slams in the Open era.

That was not the case in the final of Wimbledon, where Sinner managed to take revenge for that heartbreaking defeat in Paris and lifted the title after beating Alcaraz in the final with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. During the same interview, Alcaraz spoke about his rivalry with Sinner and stated that he is ‘grateful’ for having a rivalry with such a high-quality player who pushes him to become better as well.

“I thoroughly enjoyed competing at Wimbledon again,” said Alcaraz. “It’s a special place. I look forward to coming back next year, but after recharging the batteries, the work starts for the forthcoming US Open swing, This rivalry [with Sinner] is coming better and better, and I’m really grateful for that because it gives me the opportunity to give my 100 per cent in every practice, every day just to be better. Because the level I have to maintain just to beat Jannik is really high.”

Alcaraz, apart from playing tennis, also enjoys playing other sports. One of them is golf, but by the look of it, he is not as great while playing it as he is with the tennis racquet in hand. While speaking to the Financial Times, Alcaraz expressed his love for playing golf but admitted that current and former tennis players, including Andy Murray have defeated him.

“I love playing golf,” he said. “I played a few courses here in the UK. With the amount of rain you have, there should be a lot of great courses. Rafa plays [golf] really well. Alex de Minaur plays too. I played Andy Murray the other day and he beat me. He’s spent a lot of time on the course practising and you can tell… I also played Casper Ruud [three-time major finalist] and he beat me too.”