Carlos Alcaraz ‘snubs five tournaments’ as new plan for Australian Open emerges

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Carlos Alcaraz has reportedly laid out his roadmap for 2024, with the Spaniard set to make his return at the Australian Open. He is set to spend some time away from the court at the end of this year, with December 8 highlighted as when he will begin his pre-season training.

Alcaraz is currently competing at the China Open in the hope of closing the gap on Novak Djokovic in the world rankings. The 20-year-old opened his tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Yannick Hanfmann in Beijing, and he is hopeful that the points he scores on the Asian swing will help him close in on the world No 1.

The Wimbledon victor has made it no secret that he is not content with playing second fiddle to the Serb and is already putting together a plan for 2024 so that he can prepare himself for an important year in his career.

According to Marca, Alcaraz is ‘already thinking about next season’ and will only have a short vacation after the ATP Finals in Turin conclude on November 19. He will spend under three weeks away from the sport to rest and reset, before his training begins again on December 8.

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Alcaraz will then spend the following four weeks working at the Ferrero Tennis Academy with a small coaching team as he looks to ensure that he is in the best condition to kickstart 2024. His first competition of the year will then reportedly be the Australian Open, with the two-time Grand Slam winner looking to be more ‘precise’ when targeting tournaments.

He will therefore not participate in competitions in Hong Kong, Brisbane, Adelaide, Auckland nor in the United Cup – with the five competitions not making the cut, as such. Instead, Alcaraz has opted to play an exhibition in the week before the Australian Open, with a single match viewed as the only necessary preparation required.

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It remains to be seen whether Alcaraz’s meticulous planning will prove effective as he looks to topple Djokovic, or whether the class as the current world No. 1 will see him hold off his nearest challenger. Alcaraz has not been shy about his intentions when playing in Asia recently, and he made it no secret that he views his two tournaments as point-scoring opportunities.

He explained: “I think Novak Djokovic defends some points soon, in the race he is like 700 or 800 points ahead. By playing these two tournaments and Novak Djokovic does not participate I have the opportunity to get closer to number one. That is the meaning of these two tournaments, to be able to do well here in Beijing and Shanghai and be able to regain number one soon.”

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