Lexus ATP Head2Head: Carlos Alcaraz has revealed plans to take more breaks from the tennis circuit, saying the increasingly packed calendar makes it 'impossible' for players to compete in every mandatory tournament without risking fatigue and injuries.
The defending US Open champion made the remarks after advancing to the third round of the ongoing Grand Slam, where he recovered from a first-set loss to beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz, who returned to competitive action after a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury, admitted that although he did not want the lengthy break to come about because of an injury, he expects to deliberately step away from the tour for shorter periods in the future.
“I took more than I wanted, to be honest, but seeing how tight is the calendar, obviously I don’t want to have this break because an injury. But in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all,” the defending champion said after the match.
The Spaniard believes players need to be more selective about their schedules as the number of important tournaments continues to rise.
“I think they adding more important tournaments. In a way they making us to play,” Alcaraz said. “You can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some Grand Slams, and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP required us to play,” he said.
Alcaraz said the workload was becoming increasingly difficult to manage and warned that the situation could lead to more injuries and tired players unless changes are made.
“So it’s impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future,” he added.
Alcaraz’s comments came after he responded strongly to Faria following a shaky opening set.
Faria's muted cheers when he took the first set, 6-4. After a wobbly first set, Alcaraz saved a break point in his opening service game of the second set before tallying eight consecutive games. He rallied to hold and then, for the rest of the set, basically kicked Faria in the shins, racing to a 6-0 showing.
Alcaraz dominated with 43 winners compared to Faria’s 27, winning eight consecutive games and breaking the Portuguese’s serve five times in a row to clinch the third set 6-3. By securing the fourth set to claim the match, the seven-time major champion extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 16 matches and improved his US Open record to 26-3. He was effective on break points, converting seven out of 12 opportunities, while Faria converted two of his seven chances.
The No. 3-seeded Spaniard is aiming to become the first player to defend the US Open title since Roger Federer triumphed five times in a row from 2004 to 2008. Alcaraz is a two-time champion in New York, having won his first major title there in 2022 before his 2025 triumph.
Alcaraz dominated with 43 winners compared to Faria’s 27, winning eight consecutive games and breaking the Portuguese’s serve five times in a row to clinch the third set 6-3. By securing the fourth set to claim the match, the seven-time major champion extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 16 matches and improved his US Open record to 26-3. He was effective on break points, converting seven out of 12 opportunities, while Faria converted two of his seven chances.
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Improving to 9-0 at the majors in 2026, Alcaraz next meets China’s Wu Yibing, who ousted James Duckworth 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Alcaraz leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 1-0. Their only meeting was in Shanghai in 2024.