Carlos Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will ‘kill us’

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz of Team Europe reacts as he plays against USA’s Ben Shelton of Team World during their 2024 Laver Cup men’s singles tennis match in Berlin, Germany on September 21, 2024. – Alcaraz won the match 6-4, 6-4. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Carlos Alcaraz hit out at the tennis calendar on Saturday, claiming the schedule is “going to kill us”.

The 21-year-old French Open and Wimbledon champion is currently taking part in the Laver Cup, his 14th tournament of the year.

Before arriving in Berlin the Spanish star had already played 50 singles matches in 2024, winning three titles and also collecting a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

“Probably they are going to kill us in some way,” Alcaraz said Saturday after defeating Ben Shelton in straight sets at the Laver Cup.

READ: Iga Swiatek, others say their mental, physical health ignored

Alcaraz said that players had different opinions on the topic, but in his view “the calendar is so tight”, adding “right now there are a lot of injuries.”

“Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that.”

He added that the crowded schedule meant he sometimes struggled to motivate himself on the tour.

“Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a tournament. I’m not going to lie — I have felt this way a few times already.

READ: Carlos Alcaraz embraces ‘suffering’ to reach French Open final

“Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all. But as I’ve said many, many times, I play my best tennis when I smile and enjoy it on court. That’s the best option to keep motivating (myself).”

At the US Open, where he won his first Grand Slam title in 2022, Alcaraz suffered a shock second-round exit to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.

He admitted he had blundered by not taking a longer break between the Olympics and New York.

At the Paris Olympics, he lost an emotionally-draining gold medal match to Novak Djokovic, just weeks after sweeping the Serb off court to successfully defend his Wimbledon title.

READ: Carlos Alcaraz’s Grand Slam win streak ends with US Open exit

“I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough. Probably it wasn’t enough. Probably I came here without as much energy as I thought I was going to (have),” he said after his US Open horror show.

“I have to think about it and I have to learn about it.”

 ‘ATP doesn’t care’

Germany’s Alexander Zverev of Team Europe returns the ball to USA’s Taylor Fritz of Team World during their 2024 Laver Cup men’s singles tennis match in Berlin, Germany on September 21, 2024. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

World number two Alexander Zverev, also playing at the Laver Cup, agreed with Alcaraz and demanded action.

“The ATP doesn’t care about our opinion — it’s a money business,” said the German.

“It’s the longest season in sports. It’s unnecessarily long. We have an unnecessary amount of tournaments.”

Asked if the players would strike, Zverev said “we’re not allowed to boycott, we get fined if we don’t play tournaments”, adding “the tour goes on without you.”

“We need to do something about it. It’s not an easy solution, but a solution which needs to be made.”

Alcaraz and Zverev will not finish their seasons until late November when the Davis Cup Finals take place in Spain.

The 2025 season begins on December 27 with the United Cup in Australia.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz said he hopes he and Jannik Sinner can carve out a storied rivalry like that of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“I hope so,” Alcaraz said when asked if he and world number one Sinner could emulate the dominance of the “Big Three” who amassed 66 Grand Slam titles between them.

“A lot of people talk about it. And I hear it, I’m not going to lie. I hope that our rivalry is going to be almost like what the big three had during their whole career.”

In 2024, Alcaraz and Sinner each won two Grand Slams, making it the first year since 2002 when neither one of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic won a major.

“Hopefully we’re going to keep going like that, fighting for the great tournaments, sharing great moments. He has pushed me to become a better player every day,” added Alcaraz after a 6-4 6-4 win over Shelton that drew Team Europe level on points with Team World at the Laver Cup.