Carlos Alcaraz has the world on the end of his tennis racket these days and the future is really bright for the Spaniard.
The said racket in the statement above might be hypothetical, but the actual racket is a very important piece of equipment.
Alcaraz lost to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open in January but it would appear he’s keen to get back to winning tournaments in the near future.
He’s made a rampant start to his Indian Wells campaign, beating Quentin Halys and Denis Shapovalov without dropping a single set.
Next up he faces Grigor Dimitrov and although he must be respected, he came through a physically draining match with Gael Monfils and that will make life tough for him against Alcaraz.
Alcaraz looks like he’s going to go deep at Indian Wells this time around and perhaps he’s benefitting from a small tweak that he’s recently made.
Carlos Alcaraz shares why he’s made a change to his racket
Players take a lot of pride in the equipment they use these days and things have changed considerably since Yannick Noah won the French Open with a wooden racket.
However, players on the current ATP Tour still leave no stone unturned in a quest for perfection. As a result, Alcaraz has now been quizzed on his decision to add another five grams of weight to his racket.
He told his press conference: “Yes that’s right. I think that I wasn’t one of the players who play with less weight on the racket. I think it was too low. So I just thought about trying and let’s see how it’s going to be.
“I just slagged it. I was looking for some specific moments of the match or shots that I thought I was able to improve my game a little bit, you, when I was running or some specific shots. I felt well, really well on playing with those five grams more. I felt the ball, it was flying or it’s flying kind of different with more strength. It’s been a great change for me.
“I just feel the ball, I mean, I can control it.. The ball, all is totally the same, but it feels like when I hit it, it goes stronger. I think it’s, for the opponent, it’s more difficult to control it I think. So it is my feeling.”
Alcaraz will want to dominate with Jannik Sinner banned
It’s not gone down well that Sinner has not only got a three-month ban but also that he’s been allowed to choose when to take his punishment and avoid missing a Grand Slam.
Alcaraz can’t focus on that, however, and he will simply be looking to climb the rankings and get closer to the Italian before he returns at the ATP Masters event in Rome in May.
It’s a wonder whether Alcaraz has decided to make this choice with Sinner out of action. He doesn’t really have anything to lose and he might fancy going toe-to-toe with every other player on the tour with a racket weight that he’s not quite familiar with just yet.
Given some of the shots the player can make, it perhaps doesn’t matter too much what equipment Alcaraz swings on a tennis court and he will always be a dangerous player.
So far at Indian Wells, Alcaraz looks like he means business and clearly the change in racket weight is paying dividends.
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