Already at dawn Carlos Alcaraz enters the conference room of the Inalpi Arena and the expert local reporter corrects him: “Nooooo! Not the 23rd… Yours is the 1st!” To which the tennis player, always grateful, always predisposed goodrollismhe replies, opening his arms: “But this is Jordan’s…!” He won 6-4 and 6-1 against Lorenzo Musetti, reached the semifinals of the Masters Cup – Alexander Zverev or Auger-Aliassime will be his opponent on Saturday -, closed the group stage with full points (three out of three) and closed a year that started badly and is now ending on a high. However, he wants more. Is this the Alcaraz that was already full at this point in other years? None of this. That stomach is hungry.
“It’s not over, the tournament continues”, replies the king of the circuit, who will seal the first step of the ATP ranking for the second time this year, the same record achieved by the Swedes Björn Borg and Stefan Edberg, and the Australian Lleyton Hewitt. He moves along those paths, the boy for whom the season seemed interminable and the same one who, once the summer was over, took his foot off the accelerator. Relax, calmly. Work finished. Or not? «Being a tennis player means being a tennis player from January to November, not just seven months», he said not long ago, just when the calendar was becoming eternal and he didn’t respect his coach. “The tennis player is a tennis player for 12 months,” said Juan Carlos Ferrero. And 2025 reflects the turning point.
While his takeoff wasn’t overly promising – falling into Novak Djokovic’s trap at the Australian Open, crashing out on his first try in Miami – the arrival of spring inspired him. Hat-trick of joys: Monte Carlo, Roland Garros and Rome. The sun came out and began to slide across the clay, and everything changed. From there, unparalleled consistency, more titles – Queen’s, Cincinnati, US Open and Tokyo – and a win rate that, for the first time since joining the elite in 2021, reaches 70. Not bad. There are eight trophies, more than ever. So it continues to improve, reaffirming evolution. Was it your best exercise? He wants to return to the hotel as soon as possible. And he doesn’t hesitate: “Without a doubt”.
While other years seemed long, if it were up to him he would be left living in 2025, which has just over a week of racing left. As soon as he finishes here he will go to the Davis Cup, at the Bologna Fair, trying to give the finishing touch to a “magnificent” season which, in reality, began to take shape in Holland and indoors. Who would have thought? That new experience: “Sorry, I forgot Rotterdam…”. There, on February 9, he won the first laurel for himself, whose capillary oxygenation – a promise kept after the recital offered at the US Open – releases reflective flashes upon the impact of the artificial light in the room, like the fish you see underwater when it turns and reveals its silver back. Alcaraz is a golden tennis player, today with the aesthetics of a The boy from the back streets.
Risks and changes
“Consistency is something that has always been against me and that I have tried to work on as much as possible,” he recalls. “The other years it was a burden for me, but this year we tried to improve and we made it clear that the improvement is there. In every tournament we reached the final or won, and I continue to do so”, he continues, underlining that superlative ability to “compete” that he has incorporated into that 24-carat game that everyone agrees on. Risks? Yes of course. And welcome. Sport is improvement, but also food for the people. “There are a lot of factors, but competing, both good and bad, is what we have improved a lot on.”
Witness Jannik Sinner, his great rival, the boy who suffers from it. Here are five matches from May, all in the final chapters, and four victories for the Spaniard, who only surrendered at Wimbledon. It was changed shortly thereafter. “I have to do more things, be less predictable. Like him,” said the Italian after the crash at Flushing Meadows, aware that he has the obligation to make technical, tactical and probably also physical changes – he is still far behind in this sense – to shake up a rivalry that could meet again on Sunday. To do this, both will first have to solve their respective dances: one with Alex de Minaur, the other with Zverev or Auger-Aliassime.
“I was calm most of the time and dealt with the complications,” Alcaraz says after beating Musetti and becoming the only active player, along with Djokovic, who finished the year twice in first place. It seemed impossible in April, but not so much in September. It was about going, going and going. That’s what it’s about, that’s what life is about. On Saturday, at 8.30pm (Movistar+), he will return to the fray, but first he will collect the coveted number one trophy. “Part of the objectives of the season have been achieved, now we’re aiming for the next one”, greets the Murcian, while thanking the foreigners for the compliments on the journey towards the exit: “Thank you!”.
GRANOLLERS DOESN’T MAKE THE CUT
CA | Turin
Just like a year ago, Marcel Granollers and his teammate Horacio Zeballos failed to overcome the barrier of the group stage. They played heads or tails against Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool on Thursday, but had no luck. Solid on serve and converting break options, one for each set, the English beat them 6-3 and 7-5 (after 1h 16min) and, consequently, defeated them.
Cash and Glasspool will face compatriots Joe Salisbury and Neil Skupski for a place in the final. Meanwhile, the duo formed by the Spaniard and the Argentine ends a magnificent year, with two greats in their pocket (Roland Garros and US Open) and a practically constant presence at the top. Only the injuries suffered by the Spaniard —He missed the Australian Open and suffered an ankle injury in New York– broke the dynamic.
This Friday, however, the other group will be resolved and also the last individual place. The match between Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton (2pm, Movistar+) will be irrelevant, given the confirmation of the first place of one and the elimination of the other. However, the night shift (8.30pm) will decide: the German Alexander Zverev or the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will complete the lineup.
Before the start of the day, Carlos Alcaraz received the award and addressed those present from the center of the court. “It’s a journey that you don’t take alone. You go with your family, your team, your close people… I appreciate all the love I receive from all over the world,” he said. Afterwards, he took a photo with his circle and attended to several tasks in the late afternoon.
