Tennis legend predicts exactly what’s going to happen if Carlos Alcaraz performs badly at the Australian Open
On the Nothing Major podcast, John Isner suggested that Carlos Alcaraz's focus on exhibition games might come to bite him back.
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Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X)
Carlos Alcaraz ended the 2024 season playing 67 tour-level matches. However, he has had a busy off-season schedule participating in exhibition tournaments. This has led American former tennis star John Isner to issue a strong warning to the Spaniard ahead of the Australian Open.
Alcaraz’s last official match of the season was at the Davis Cup, beating Tallon Griekspoor in the singles before tasting defeat in a decisive doubles match against the Netherlands. Since then, the 21-year-old has been engaged in exhibition events. He featured at the Madison Square Garden event against Ben Shelton.
After that, he faced Frances Tiafoe at the Charlotte Invitational exhibition event. During the season, Alcaraz featured in the Netflix Slam against Rafael Nadal and also played in the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh this October. Since the beginning of the off-season, Alcaraz has attracted criticism for competing in exhibition matches despite his complaints about the ATP schedule.
In a recent conversation on Nothing Major podcast, John Isner felt that Alcaraz playing in several exhibition games while Jannik Sinner is laying low doesn’t look good for him. He also pointed out that if the Spaniard performs poorly in the Australian Open, he will be heavily criticized.
None of us blame Carlos for going over there and picking up two huge cheques, but Sinner seems to be laying low after his fantastic year, going back to work and keeping a low profile. I think they’ll both be ready for Australia, but if Carlos doesn’t have a good performance at the Australian Open, a lot of people are going to come down on him because he was in the States in December playing exhibition matches instead of preparing. I don’t think that’s fair, but that’s the way it’s going to be.
John Isner said via Nothing Major podcast
Alcaraz is not going to play in any warm-up tournament before the Australian Open. The Melbourne Grand Slam event kicks off on January 12, with Sinner being the defending champion.
Carlos Alcaraz confirms second clay tournament for the 2025 season
Carlos Alcaraz looks to be preparing for the 2025 season both on and off the court. The 21-year-old has already revealed that he will not be featuring in the South American clay season. Rather, he will play at the 2025 Rotterdam Open. He recently announced his second clay swing tournament for next season.
After the Monte Carlo, Alcaraz will play at the Barcelona Open ATP 500 event. The tournament starts on April 14-20 and is the biggest tennis event after the Madrid Open. Alcaraz revealed via a press statement that he is happy to play at the event and looks forward to winning the third time.
Very happy to play again in Barcelona and fight for my third title. It is a very special tournament for me, with a lot of history, and it is played on some courts that I have known very well since I was little.
Carlos Alcaraz said
Alcaraz won the Barcelona in 2022 and 2023 defeating Pablo Carreno Busta and Stefanos Tsitsipas, respectively. This season, he didn’t feature at the event due to injury after also skipping the Monte Carlo Masters.
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