Carlos Alcaraz Defends One-Week Masters 1000s as ‘They’re Better for the Show’

Carlos Alcaraz has always been vocal about the 11-month tennis calendar, saying it doesn’t give much time to rest and recover, and this sometimes ends up affecting their performance. Alcaraz himself was exhausted during the Miami Open.

After his defeat to eventual runner-up Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells semifinals, the Spaniard suffered a shock third-round exit in the Miami Open, losing to home favorite Sebastian Korda in three sets. During the match, the 22-year-old even yelled toward his team that he was tired and wanted to go home.

But after Miami, he reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters, and although he failed to defend his title with a straight-set defeat to Jannik Sinner, which removed him from the No.1 ranking, Alcaraz has the golden opportunity to reclaim his position by winning the Barcelona Open.

In the pre-tournament press conference in Barcelona, the seven-time Grand Slam champion defended the weeklong Masters 1000 events, the ones held in Monte Carlo and Paris.

I’ll always be a defender of one-week tournaments. If they all were like that, we’d have a week off after Madrid and another after Rome. They’re better for the show; we saw it in Monte Carlo.

The remaining seven Masters 1000s are 12 days long. Last year, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters became part of these two-week events. ATP wants to increase revenue and also believes the players will benefit from this format because it gives off days between matches. But top players like Alcaraz, Sinner, and Alexander Zverev prefer the one-week tournaments.

Carlos Alcaraz on hate messages on social media

Tennis players often find themselves on the receiving end of criticism from fans due to their performance, their behavior, their decisions, and whatnot. Carlos Alcaraz is also not immune to social media hate. But he is thankful that he is surrounded by people who uplift him in difficult situations.

I am a person who, as I have said, perhaps looks at social media more than I should. I am someone who is affected by things. I believe everyone is human, and certain comments make you doubt a little of what you are capable of. In certain defeats, at certain moments, some comments make you wonder if you are enough or not: that has also happened to me. That’s when you need to have the right people around you.

Carlos Alcaraz said in the press conference after his opening-round win in Barcelona

In his campaign opener, the Murcia native registered a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Otto Virtanen. He has now set up a round of 16 match against someone who took a set off Alcaraz’s arch-rival Jannik Sinner during the Monte-Carlo Masters (it was Sinner’s first set defeat in a Masters 1000 event since the 2025 Shanghai Masters).

The player is Tomas Machac, against whom Alcaraz holds a 1-1 head-to-head tie. The Czech ace came from a set down to defeat Sebastian Korda in the previous round.

Alcaraz is bidding to win his third title of the season and is playing in Barcelona as the defending champion. He has 330 ranking points to defend in the Spanish city, and if he wins, he will dethrone Sinner from the No.1 ranking position.

After Barcelona, Alcaraz wants to play the Madrid Open, which he skipped last year due to an injury. Sinner has hinted that he may end up skipping the fourth Masters 1000 of the season to prioritize rest and recovery. Alcaraz has 3,000 points to defend in Rome and Paris, while Sinner has 1,950 points to defend in the two cities, as he finished as the runner-up, while Alcaraz won both.

Also read: Arthur Fils Discusses Experience of Working With Goran Ivanisevic so far: “He has Tons of Advice”

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