Carlos Alcaraz is the first to admit that he is yet to truly crack the code when it comes to playing on indoor courts, but a change in venue for this year’s Paris Masters could give him a boost.
The Spanish magician has won 24 ATP Tour singles titles with only one of those coming at an indoor tournament as he ended his drought at the Rotterdam Open in February this year, but his record at the big events are pretty patchy.
His best run at the ATP Finals was a semi-final in 2023 and last year he exited after the group phase while at the Paris Masters, he reached the quarter-final in 2022, lost in the second round the following year and the third round in 2024.
But Alcaraz is hopeful that he can change his record at this year’s Paris Masters following the decision to move from the Bercy Arena to the multipurpose Paris La Défense Arena.
As one of the first big-name players to arrive for this year’s season-ending Masters event in Paris, the world No 1 had an early opportunity to test the speed of the new courts and he liked what he saw.
“This year is totally different than last year. I think it is a huge difference, which I like it (smiling),” he stated.
“You know, the speed of the court, yeah, it’s much slower than last year, but I think it is a really good speed that we can see tennis, not only serve or it’s not only serve plus one.
“So you can see rallies, you can see points, you can see tennis. So I think it’s great. Obviously I’ve said many times that I like, you know, slower courts, not that fast.
“But yeah, we will see. Obviously this tournament is not my best one in terms of results, but I love playing here. The time of the year, you know, it’s been long with the indoor. I’m not really used to playing indoors, but year after year, I think I’m getting more used to it.
“So we will see this year. Hopefully go farther than previous years.”
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Alcaraz has a 31–13 (70%) win-loss record on indoor courts, well down from his overall career record of 81%.
For comparison, his main rival Jannik Sinner is 76–21 (78%) on indoor courts, having won seven titles, including the 2024 ATP Finals.
Despite the stats, the six-time Grand Slam winner doesn’t think he is a bad player on indoor courts as others are simply better than him, but of course, there is room for improvement.
“I wouldn’t say I’m bad playing indoors. I think other players are better than me on indoor side. It’s a huge difference saying that,” the 22-year-old said.
“I see myself practicing, playing matches that I can play really good tennis, but obviously there are some matches that I played against someone that they are playing much, much better in indoor than I do. So I have to be ready for that, but I think I will get good tennis on indoor.”
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