A look at Carlos Alcaraz’s 2023 tennis schedule and his results so far this campaign…
After a brilliant 2022 season during which he won his maiden Grand Slam, the US Open, as well as the ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid, a lot is expected from Alcaraz this year.
However, his campaign got off to a bumpy start as he was forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to a hamstring injury during training. It came not long after he was forced to miss the ATP Finals because of an abdominal injury.
Alcaraz will skip the hard-court swings in Europe and the Middle East and head to Latin America for some action on the clay before he moves to the United States for the Sunshine Swing.
Argentina Open – February 13-19
He will kick off his clay-court season on the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club after signing up for the ATP 250 event for the first time.
“I’m honestly super excited to travel to Argentina and play there, so I hope to see everyone there. I’ll see you soon,” the Spaniard said when his participation was confirmed.
It will be a good test for his hamstring.
Rio Open – February 18-26
This was the tournament where it all came together for Alcaraz in 2022 as he beat the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Diego Schwartzman en route to becoming the youngest player to win an ATP 500 title.
He is in the main draw again this year.
Mexico Open – February 27-March 5
Alcaraz will then move to North America as he will make his debut at ATP 500 event in Acapulco. He was due to play at the Mexican Open last year, but he withdrew due to an elbow injury.
Rafael Nadal is the defending champion , but he won’t feature this year. The entry list, though, will feature Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.
Indian Wells Open – March 6-19
Last year he reached the semi-final in California and he will be hoping to go two better this year and with the field unlikely to include Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with the former struggling with injury and the latter unable to travel to the United States due to his unvaccinated status, he will be favourite.
Miami Open – March 20-27
Alcaraz became the first Spaniard to win the Miami Open last year and he was also the youngest player to win the trophy in Miami as he was aged 18 years and 333 days when he beat Casper Ruud in the final.
If he is fit, he will be back to defend his title.
Monte-Carlo Masters – April 10-16
The Spaniard will then return to Europe and start his swing in the Principality.
Last year he was the talk of the town after winning the Miami Open, but he was brought back down to earth at the Monte Carlo Masters after losing in the second round against Sebastian Korda.
Barcelona Open – April 17-23
Defending champion Alcaraz is one of two players – the other being Rafael Nadal – who were confirmed for the 2023 Barcelona Open as far back as December 2022.
Last year he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to winning the title in Barcelona.
Madrid Open – April 24-May 7
If anyone had doubts over Alcaraz’s ability, then he surely ended those with his displays at the Madrid Open as he defeated the top three seeds – third seed Nadal in the quarter-final, top seed Djokovic in the semi-final and second seed Alexader Zverev in the final – to win the title in the Spanish capital.
He will no doubt return to Madrid to defend his title.
Italian Open – May 8-15
The Italian Open was one of the big events that Alcaraz missed in 2022 as he opted to rest his injured ankle ahead of the French Open.
Alcaraz is expected to make his long-awaited debut in Rome, but he could also skip the event again in order to keep fresh for Roland Garros, especially if he reached the latter stages of several tournaments.
French Open – May 28-June 11
It is no doubt one of the tournaments that Alcaraz wants to win before he retires – although at 19 he still has a lot of time left in his career.
Last year he reached the quarter-final before going down in a four-set slugfest against Zverev.
Wimbledon – July 3-16
Alcaraz didn’t play any warm-up events on grass last year, but he does have a few options as he could play at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Stuttgart, Halle, Queen’s Club, Eastbourne and Mallorca.
If he opt to rest, then he will return at Wimbledon where he will look to improve on last year’s run to the fourth round.
Croatia Open – July 24-30
He competed in both the Hamburg Open and Croatia Open in 2022 and finished runner-up to Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner respectively, but the tournaments take place at the same time this.
Given that he also played at the Croatia Open in 2021 and won the title, the Spaniard will probably return to Umag.
Canadian Open – August 7-13
Alcaraz didn’t have the best of lead-ups to the US Open in 2022 as he lost in the second round against Tommy Paul, but given that it is an ATP Masters 1000 event he will probably feature.
Cincinnati Open – August 14-20
Seeded third, the Spaniard exited the hard-court Masters in the quarter-final as he went down in three sets against Cameron Norrie.
It’s another key event in the build-up to the US Open so you can expect his name to be in the main draw, unless of course there are doubts over his fitness.
US Open – August 28-September 10
The tournament that truly brought out the best in the Spaniard as he played three consecutive lung-busting five-setters to reach the final and then defeated Casper Ruud in four sets to claim his maiden Grand Slam. The result also saw him rise to No 1 in the ATP Rankings.
He’ll be back to defend his title if he is fit.
Shanghai Masters – October 2-9
The only ATP Masters 1000 event in Asia is back on the calendar this year after a three-year absence due to Covid-19 and Alcaraz could make his debut this year.
Last year he played at the Astana Open – losing in the first round – and he could skip that event in order to play in Shanghai.
Swiss Indoors – October 23-29
He reached the semi-final on his debut trip to Basel last year, falling to eventual winner Felix Auger-Aliassime and he could return, although it is quite close to the Paris Masters.
Paris Masters – October 30-November 5
The tournament started well for Alcaraz last year as he won his opening two matches, but he then picked up an abdominal muscle injury during his quarter-final match against Holger Rune and eventually threw in the towel.
The Paris-Bercy event is expected to be in on his calendar again.
ATP Finals – November 12-19
After missing the 2022 AtP Finals due to injury, Alcaraz will no doubt be keen to make his debut at the season-ending event in Turin this year.
Although he will first need to win a few tournaments before he can start thinking about the Finals.
