Carlos Alcaraz eyeing up huge rankings chance as his clay court training locations are revealed
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Carlos Alcaraz is counting down to the start of the clay court season and he has put in some practice sessions at two different locations near his Murcia homeland in recent days.
Alcaraz is coming off the back of a challenging opening to the 2025 season, which included a fine win in the ATP 5000 event in Rotterdam, but has also featured more than a few low points.
His defeat against Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-finals was a setback and he was stunned by the veteran David Goffin in his opening match at the Miami Open.
Now Alcaraz is eyeing up a return to clay courts and he has a huge opportunity to make big strides forward in the ATP Rankings after a challenging start to his clay court campaign in 2024.
He missed last year’s Monte-Carlos Masters due to an elbow problem and was also absent for the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona that follows a week later.
That means he has a chance to challenge for 1,500 new ATP Ranking points if he wins in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, which would fire him above Alexander Zverev and into second place in the rankings ahead of the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
Alcaraz has only 200 ranking points to defend from the ATP Tour events on clay in 2024, with the 2,000 points from his French Open win last June set to be defended when he arrives at Roland Garros next month.
Having grown up on Spanish clay courts, Alcaraz is at home on the surface and he has picked a couple of familiar venues to train in recent days.
A small crowd watched him go through his paces at Real Murcia Club de Tenis earlier this week and he then took his team, including coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, to La Manga Club, where many of Spain’s top players have trained down the years.
Juan Carlos Ferrero …
Carlos Alcaraz se sigue machacando de cara a la gira de tierra, esta vez en La Manga Club pic.twitter.com/7pPrZzlw6S
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) April 2, 2025
Alcaraz then posed for photos with young fans after his practice session at La Manga sporting a new haircut that includes a tight shave around his ears, with the images quickly appearing on social media platforms.
There is some uncertainty over Alcaraz’s form heading into the clay court swing on the ATP Tour, but former world No 1 Andy Roddick believes the hype around a perceived slump in form needs to be put into perspective.
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"His inconsistency almost sometimes makes him relatable and you can see him churning the wheels of decision-making in real time," said Roddick on his Served podcast.
"Right now when he is not playing well or feeling comfortable, he goes more aggressive. That is hard. Right now when he is not feeling perfect it almost feels like he gets more aggressive.
"I don't think he likes getting winners hit on him. I think he likes to be the one that dictates. That's his superpower. Sometimes our superpowers can also be weaknesses when not used at the right moment.
"I think as soon as he gets comfortable knowing that he can get into a 10 or 12 ball rally and they can't really go anywhere, he's that fast, I can create that much speed from the baseline, it's probably too boring for him.
"Honestly, I think he needs to be bored sometimes when he's playing. But listen, you bet against Carlos Alcaraz at your own peril, especially when the footing's not perfect.
"By the way, he didn’t have a clay court season last year. He had two matches, then he won the French Open."
Reaching the No 2 spot in the ATP Rankings ahead of the French Open would be a boost to Alcaraz, as it would mean he would avoid a potential meeting with world No 1 Jannik Sinner until the final.
READ NEXT: Understanding the mysteries of clay courts at La Manga's Racquets Club
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