Carlos Alcaraz was last seen in action in the final of Wimbledon, where he failed to defend his title due to his four-set defeat to Jannik Sinner. He was next scheduled to play the Canadian Open but decided to skip it to spend more time resting and recovering.
Like Alcaraz, many other top players have been continuously playing tennis since the clay swing. The gap between the clay and the grass swing is not much, so the three off days that Alcaraz got, he enjoyed that time vacationing in Ibiza.
On the clay swing, Alcaraz skipped only one big tournament- the Madrid Open because of injury. He reached four finals and lifted titles: in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Paris. After his Ibiza trip, he continued his winning ways by lifting his career’s fourth grass-court trophy at the Queen’s Club Championships.
He recently sat for an interview with the Financial Times, where he revealed how he and other players have been trying hard to remove some tournaments from the schedule so that players get more time off.
We’re trying to change the schedule a bit, seeing if they can remove more tournaments so we can have more rest time, more vacation time. It’s not easy, but we’re trying.
Although players, former and current, are only calling for the shortening of the 11-month calendar, this year, the ATP extended the Canadian Open to a 12-day event. The Cincinnati Masters will also be a 12-day event from this season onward.
Previously, five of the Masters 1000 were held for 12 days. The Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters’ expansion have now increased the number to seven. Players are not at all a fan of this rule; and some are even convinced that the tennis governing bodies care more for money and not about the players’ well-being.
Carlos Alcaraz shares how he celebrates his Grand Slam wins
Athletes are quite strict with themselves. They keep indulgence, especially when it involves food, at bay during Grand Slam events.