“They have to do something with the calendar”: Carlos Alcaraz renews his criticism of the ATP calendar before Paris Masters

Carlos Alcaraz is back on court at the Paris Masters, feeling healthier and sharper after a much-needed break. The World No. 1 explained his decision to skip Shanghai and reflected on how a more balanced schedule could help players maintain their peak performance throughout the season.

The Spaniard's last appearance was at the Tokyo Open, a tournament he ended up winning against Taylor Fritz, despite dealing with a minor ankle injury following a fall during his first-round match against Sebastian Baez. The Spaniard managed to secure the title but then decided not to risk further injury and skipped the Shanghai Masters.

“Obviously I didn't want to withdraw from Shanghai. It's a really important tournament for me and for the players,” Alcaraz said in his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday in Paris. “But I had to heal my body, and I think I wasn't ready to play another tournament in a row. So I just preferred to come back home, recover the ankle, and try to be in good shape for this time of the year.”

“I think we could see last year, two years ago, that I'm not coming fresh to this time of the year. So I really wanted to put more attention on that, being in good shape, practising well, and coming here, thinking that I can do a really good result. So right now, physically I'm feeling good. I just practised well, hitting the ball really well.”

The 6-time Grand Slam champion insisted on his criticism of the ATP calendar when asked if there is a specific amount of matches players should play per year. “Well, I don't have an exact amount of matches that we should play. I mean, I can't answer with an exact number. But obviously they have to do something with the calendar. The amount of tournaments that we have to play I think is too high. We don't have such, you know, good period of time that we can practice, we can rest.”

“Even during the season, I think it's week after week after week and we don't have the chance to have a week just to prepare pretty well the tournaments or what we have ahead in the season,” the World No. 1 added. “But, you know, I will think about the amount of matches that we should play, and I'm gonna comment later (smiling).”

Alcaraz arrives amidst—arguably—the best season of his career— securing eight titles, including two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Alcaraz holds a notable record of 67-7 (more titles than defeats) and will seek to maintain his form on the Paris Masters indoors, where he has never lifted the trophy. “This year is totally different than last year. I think it is a huge difference, which I like,” Alcaraz said with a smile. “The speed of the court is much slower than last year, but I think it is a really good speed that we can see tennis, not only serve and serve plus one; you can see rallies, you can see points, you can see tennis.”

The 22-year-old star has only played one of his 31 ATP-level finals in an indoor tournament: the Rotterdam Open in February of this year—where he ended up taking the title by defeating Alex de Minaur (6-4, 3-6, 6-2), marking his first title of the 2025 season.

Paris is one of the Masters 1000 events where he has not had great results, holding a 5-4 record and only one quarter-final appearance as his best performance back in 2022, where he fell to the eventual champion Holger Rune. After that, he suffered surprising defeats in the second round in 2023 against Roman Safiulin and the third round in 2024 against Ugo Humbert—the eventual runner-up of the tournament.

“I've said many times that I like slower courts, not that fast. This tournament is not my best one in terms of results, but I love playing here,” Alcaraz stressed. “I'm not really used to playing indoors, but year after year, I think I'm getting more used to it. So we will see this year. Hopefully [I] go farther than previous years.”

This will be Alcaraz's last tournament before the ATP Finals, another tournament that is still pending for Alcaraz, who reached the semi-finals in 2023 (losing to Djokovic) and was eliminated in the Round Robin in 2024 with a 2-3 record. “I wouldn't say I'm bad [at] playing indoors,” the Spaniard mentioned when asked about his results indoors. “I think other players are better than me indoors, It's a huge difference saying that. I see myself practising, playing matches that I can play really good tennis.

“But obviously there are some matches that I played against some that are playing much, much better indoors than I do. So I have to be ready for that, but I think I will get good tennis on indoor [courts].”