Alcaraz highlights scheduling woes again after rushed journey from Beijing to Shanghai

After a rushed journey from Beijing to Shanghai, Carlos Alcaraz has highlighted the scheduling woes again. He voiced similar concerns during the Laver Cup a few weeks ago.

Alcaraz played his heart out to win against world No 1and defending champion Jannik Sinner in the China Open final on Wednesday. He tussled with Sinner for nearly three and half hours, surviving two tiebreaks in the three-setter to eventually come out on top 6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (3).

This was Alcaraz’s sixth win over Sinner in the head-to-head across 10 matches.

One might think he would’ve taken his time to soak in the achievement, however, as per the Spaniard’s account, he didn’t. Shortly after the intense final against Sinner, he boarded a flight bound for Shanghai.

“I said so many times, the tennis schedule is so tight, but we have to get used to it, or I guess we have to,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said in a presser ahead of the Shanghai Masters. “Yeah, yesterday we finished 8:30, 9:00, three-hours match.”

I had no time to do anything else.

I just went to the club before the final with all the bags, because I knew that we had to run after the finals to take the flight to come here. We arrive at 4:00 a.m., just to be ready or just to have some sleep here in Shanghai, and woke up here in Shanghai to get used to the conditions here and try to be ready for my first match.”

Notably, the main draw action in Shanghai began on Wednesday, when Alcaraz was fighting against the Italian in Beijing.

“The tennis schedule is so, so tight,” the 21-year-old added. “We are traveling, you know, from tournament to tournament, with just one or two days before the tournament begins, so it is difficult, but we have to get used to it.”

Sinner also flew with Alcaraz to Shanghai on the same flight and the two are seed No 1 and 3, respectively, in the Shanghai Masters main draw.

Luckily, the duo will have time to settle down before getting their respective campaigns underway as they don’t play their openers on Thursday and Friday. They have received byes in the first round, with Alcaraz pitted against Chinese Shang Juncheng and Sinner taking on Japanese Taro Daniel in the second.

You might also like this

Alcaraz v Sinner: Head-to-head, stats, all you need to know about their rivalry – updated after Beijing 2024 final

tennis majors

“The margins are very small” – Sinner not discouraged by Alcaraz loss

tennis majors

“I didn’t want to touch a racquet” – Alcaraz explains significance of China Open success

tennis majors