Carlos Alcaraz has revealed whether he is “surprised” by how quickly things can change in tennis after an unusual season in the men’s game.
World No 3 Alcaraz started 2026 on top of the ATP Rankings, and he was the dominant player in the early stages of the campaign.
The Spaniard amassed a 16-match unbeaten run to start the year, winning the Australian Open and the Qatar Open before a semi-final defeat in Indian Wells.
The seven-time major winner lost the world No 1 position to Jannik Sinner after losing to his rival in the Monte Carlo Masters final.
Alcaraz missed over four months due to a wrist injury before making his return at the US Open, and he claimed his third title of 2026 at the Japan Open earlier this week.
Sinner won the first five Masters 1000 events of the season: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
The Italian then suffered a shock second round exit at the French Open following a physical collapse — a result that ended his 30-match win streak. He then defended his Wimbledon title, but he has not played since due to a knee injury.
Alexander Zverev triumphed at the French Open and the US Open, and he is set to become world No 1 for the first time.
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In his pre-tournament press conference at the Shanghai Masters, Alcaraz was asked about the dramatic momentum swings this season.
Q. “The first half of the year, you win Australian Open, and then Jannik basically wins every Masters. And then things change very fast. Like, Sascha, he wins two Grand Slams. Do you feel surprised like how things can change so fast?”
ALCARAZ: “Not at all. I know tennis, it’s, let’s say, a roller coaster. A player can start the year really, really well, winning two, three, four tournaments, whatever it is.
“Then it might change to another player who, in the clay season, even the grass, can dominate the tour and winning every tournament. And then, you know, for the USA can change everything.
“A year can be really long. We play a lot of matches. We play a lot of tournaments. We have a lot of time sometimes to adapt our games the best we can for the rest of the season.
“So, I know that tennis, you have to be ready and focused every tournament, every week you have on practices just to be better, because the other players are practising maybe harder than you to catch you up.
“That’s the beauty of tennis, I would say, to have a lot of players, you know, like fighting for the same thing and having the ranking move all around. So, I’m not surprised at all.”
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