Carlos Alcaraz has made a late change to his 2026 calendar as he has added an ATP 500 tournament to his schedule with the move coming on the back of his early exit from the Shanghai Masters.
The world No 3 has signed up for the Vienna Open, which runs from 26 October until 1 November, after previously stating he only planned to play three more ATP events, namely the Paris Masters, ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals.
“WELCOME IN VIENNA, CARLOS ALCARAZ!” organisers announced on social media. “Last-minute news, huge excitement! Carlos will be kicking off his tournament on Tuesday, October 27!”
But the move was not too much of a surprise as Alcaraz was due to take part in the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia next week, but the lucrative event has been postponed following attacks on the Riyadh airport.
Carlos Alcaraz News
Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Learner Tien were due to compete for the first prize of $6 million from 21-24 October, but the event has been moved to December.
It means his break between his last match at the Shanghai Masters and the Paris Masters – which gets underway on 2 November – would have been three weeks.
Barely a week after he won the Japan Open, Alcaraz was stunned by Zizou Bergs in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Asia. With the Six Kings Slam rescheduled, he would have been left with very little match practice ahead of the Paris Masters.
But now he will join a star-studded line-up in Vienna as Alexander Zverev, who is guaranteed to finish 2026 as the year-end No 1, will be the top seed with Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik also on the entry list.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner was due to headline the field, but he is unable to defend his title as he pulled out of the event due to a knee injury.
Alcaraz is set to make his second appearance at the Austrian event as he made his debut in 2021, reaching the semi-final before losing in three sets against Zverev.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner will finish his regular ATP Tour season at the Paris Masters, a tournament where he is yet to crack the code, as his best result is a quarter-final appearance.
The ATP campaign will come to an end with the ATP Finals in Turin and he will also be looking to win his first title at the season-ending event following his runner-up finish to Sinner last year.
He will then represent Spain at the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, Italy.
