Carlos Alcaraz, the best tennis player on the planet, speaks to MARCA from Riyadh before his debut in the second edition of the ‘Six Kings Slam’. The Spaniard returns to competition after skipping the Shanghai Masters 1000 due to a twisted ankle that he suffered in the first round in Tokyo against Sebastian Baez.
How is your left ankle? Does it still hurt?
The ankle has gone well, it has been recovering well within what is possible. It has been a grade two sprain and without giving it much rest it always takes a little longer to recover. Maybe I’m still playing not with discomfort, but with a little doubt. Those doubts always take time to go away, but the truth is that we are doing a good job. The ankle is respecting me.
Will you play the exhibition blindfolded?Yes, I will play bandaged. It’s just that I don’t feel completely safe playing demanding matches without bandaging.
Can you play the final with Jannik Sinner? It wouldn’t be an official match, but does it count mentally because of the rivalry you have?R. Who knows. He has to win two matches and I have to win one. Hopefully we will meet in the final. It’s not an official tournament, but we play it as if it were. Mentally, whoever wins here can influence.
I will play with a bandage because I don’t feel completely safe to do it without it
There is a lot of talk about the money at stake ($6 million to the champion). Are you aware of what you earn in tournaments?Yes, there are many tournaments that obviously do, because it is given more hype than it really is. That’s what I think. The vast majority of the time I’m not aware of the prize money at stake, although for example, the US Open was because it was a record figure in history.Do you know when you are going to get the tattoo of the Queen’s Bridge and the Statue of Liberty?R. I have the date of the first US Open on the back of my triceps so it will be there, when I can, maybe at the end of the year.
Would winning the ATP Finals in Turin deserve another tattoo?R. I would have to think about it because the truth is that it is not in my plans. I would rather get a tattoo if I win the Davis Cup than if I win the Masters.
You’re on a great winning streak and playing well. Do you have the feeling that this could be the year to win the Masters crown?
Every moment is different. When you take something for granted, when you put a lot of expectations on something, then it’s all much worse. I prefer to take it easy, I prefer to go week by week and try to prepare myself as best as possible. Obviously I can’t fool myself because I’m well prepared and the confidence is there. I’m confident that I’m going to play good tennis in Turin.
I prefer to get a tattoo if I win the Davis Cup rather than the Masters
I’ve read that at the Masters you will debut your personalized line of Nike brand. Is that so?It’s not true, I don’t know why it came out. It’s true that we’re working on it, that’s all I can say. We’re working on the logo, but it’s not going to come out in Turin. We’re still in the process of working it out properly.In April you told me that in Miami you had “hit rock bottom”. How do you come back after that with 10 finals in a row?
In the end, the people you have around you are the most important thing. They are the ones who always help you. You get to know yourself to know what you need; you take what is really important, you focus your attention on it and you follow that line. The people around you, the ones who help you when things are not going well and when they are going well, are the ones who tell you where to go. That’s what has helped me to be where I am after Miami.
In the first edition of the ‘Six Kings Slam’, Rafael Nadal was presented with a life-size gold racket for his career. Would you like to be given another one?
Rafa deserved it, let’s see if I get it someday. Obviously I would like it because it is a nice memory, a nice gift. He deserved it and I don’t at the moment. We’ll see in a couple of years. But to have that racket is something worthy of very few.
Nadal deserved the golden racket, I don’t at the moment; it’s something worthy of very few
Are the dates of the tournament marked in red for you?
I do have it marked because Australia is always one of the targets at the beginning of each year. In Melbourne I have always played good tennis, but I have struggled to get to the final rounds. This year I’m going to prepare as well as possible to at least get past the quarter-finals.
What is your plan for the beginning of 2026? Do you play anything before the Australian Open?Not really. I’m going to be at home preparing, doing a good pre-season and I’ll go straight there. That’s the plan at the moment, but as you know, in tennis everything can change.
You have six Grand Slam titles at 22, which is more than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer had at your age. You are on track to finish your career with more than 20.
I don’t take anything for granted because every year is different. Players advance, new players come out and it’s more complicated. I hope that this rhythm continues, but in tennis every season you have to give your best and that is the most complicated thing.
I didn’t kill myself or crave number one, only at the US Open I realized that it depended on me
At the beginning of 2025, you said that it killed you every time you were reminded of the option of regaining the number one ranking by taking advantage of Sinner’s absence due to his suspension. Was the key to getting back to the top of the rankings not thinking about it?
I think so. In the end, until before the US Open I really didn’t think I was going to regain the number one ranking. It was a goal, but I was very far away. I didn’t kill myself or crave to get it. Week after week I was doing my bit to keep moving forward and cutting points from Jannik. At the US Open I realized that being number one again depended on me. I didn’t try to put pressure on myself with that. I played my good tennis until the end to get it. It’s something that has come with daily, weekly work and without having that craving
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