Carlos Alcaraz’s Coach Issues Warning to the Roland Garros Champion About his Intentions for the Grass Court Season

Carlos Alcaraz looks to move on from Roland Garros as he is scheduled to play at Queens Club.

Carlos Alcaraz’s Coach Issues Warning to the Roland Garros Champion About his Intentions for the Grass Court Season

Carlos Alcaraz (via the Tennis Letter)

Carlos Alcaraz‘s coach, Samuel Lopez, has issued a strict warning to the World No.2. Lopez, who joined Alcaraz’s team in February this year, claimed that the Spaniard needs to adapt to the grass court conditions quickly.

The players usually don’t have much time to prepare for the grass-court season as it comes directly after the clay-court season. For Alcaraz, he is playing on a grass-court time only a week after winning Roland Garros on the Paris clay. On Eurosport, Lopez said that he needs to understand that he has spent a long time on clay.

There is little time to prepare, but we are taking this as an adaptation to grass. The more matches we win here, the better. The goal for a player like him is to come to tournaments to win, but with the understanding that the important thing is to continue preparing. He must understand and accept that it will not be easy after such a long tour on clay and now a change of surface, and that the feelings are different and difficult to achieve.

Alcaraz has adapted well from clay to grass so far in his career. He is a two-time champion at Wimbledon and last year he joined the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in terms of players winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season.

In 2023, he won his first Wimbledon title after clinching his first Queen’s title. In 2024, he suffered an early exit at Queen’s against Jack Draper. However, that defeat didn’t stop him from dispatching Djokovic in straight sets to claim his fourth Grand Slam title.

Carlos Alcaraz’s first opponent at Queen’s Club revealed

World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz returns to Queen’s Club aiming to win the title for the second time, having first claimed it in 2023 by beating Alex de Minaur. Last year, he suffered a surprising loss to Jack Draper in the second round. After winning the French Open just over a week ago, he now faces a tough first-round challenge against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Carlos Alcaraz Roland Garros
Carlos Alcaraz (image via Roland Garros)

The two players know each other well. Alcaraz has defeated Davidovich Fokina twice on the ATP Tour—once in the 2023 Barcelona Open quarterfinal and again in the 2024 Monte Carlo semifinals. While those matches were played on clay, they now meet on grass, which will present a different challenge. Despite their friendship, both will have to set personal ties aside.

Alcaraz spoke openly about their bond earlier this year. He shared that Davidovich Fokina had even invited him to his wedding. The two have spent years training and playing together, but as Alcaraz said, once on court, friendship takes a back seat to competition.

Davidovich Fokina got married just days before his opening match, while Alcaraz recently returned from a holiday in Ibiza. With both players adjusting back to competitive play, their match on Tuesday is set to be closely watched. The winner will face either Jordan Thompson or Jaume Munar in the second round.

How many points will Carlos Alcaraz defend at Queens’ Club?

Some of the world’s top players are competing at the Queen’s Club Championships this week, and several are defending key ranking points. The focus is on how the top eight seeds performed last year and what they must defend in 2025.

Carlos Alcaraz (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Carlos Alcaraz (via X/The Tennis Letter)

Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, has only 50 points to defend after a second-round exit in 2024. He had won the title in 2023 but lost early last year to Jack Draper. Draper, now the second seed and world No. 6, reached the quarter-finals last year and carries 100 points into this tournament.

Taylor Fritz, seeded third and world No. 4, also has 100 points to defend after a last-eight finish in 2024. He recently won a grass title in Stuttgart, moving ahead of Draper in the rankings. Both players aim to improve on last year’s performance at Queen’s.

Holger Rune and Alex de Minaur, the fourth and fifth seeds, have no points to defend this year. Both were knocked out in the first round in 2024. Rune already advanced to the second round this week, while de Minaur is set to begin his campaign against Jiri Lehecka.