Although he has already won a lot during his career, too many people forget that Carlos Alcaraz is only 21 years old and that it will still take some time before he completes all the pieces of his puzzle.
The Spanish ace has a truly complete game for a player of his age and his spectacular shots electrify the crowd in every tournament he plays, but he has not yet found the key to maintaining the same level during an entire season.
His level in the first three months of 2025 exemplifies this concept: a title won in Rotterdam and several avoidable defeats against second-rate opponents. For this reason, the former world number 1 will have considerable pressure in the red clay season that has just begun. The 4-time Grand Slam champion has a real chance to pick up points until Roland Garros, as a forearm injury had affected his performance in spring 2024 and forced him to miss several tournaments (Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome).
Alcaraz still has to mature
The current world number 3 will face the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in his first match in Monte Carlo, a probing test against an opponent who is capable of playing his best tennis on this surface.
Before the start of this tournament, Carlitos confessed that the pressure related to Jannik Sinner’s absence from the ATP tour killed him preventing him from showing his best version.
On the latest edition of the show called ‘Sans Filet’, top analyst Benoit Maylin commented on these statements by Alcaraz: “He has everything it takes to dominate this sport, but we must not forget that he is not even 22 years old. He has not yet completed his fifth season on the professional tour and it is normal that he still needs to improve in some aspects.
Carlos ‘sees’ tennis as fun, but his approach has to change if he wants to break records like the Big 3 did.”
There is no doubt that Sinner’s consistency over the past year has increased the pressure on the Spaniard’s shoulders, as he has to get used to this new reality.
