What Carlos Alcaraz has just said ahead of his opening match in Barcelona should strike fear into the rest of the ATP Tour

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Carlos Alcaraz has already made a positive start to his clay court season after winning the Monte Carlo Masters.

Alcaraz beat Lorenzo Musetti in the Monte Carlo Masters final to win his biggest title since Wimbledon last year.

As a result of his biggest title win of the 2025 season so far, Alcaraz has overtaken Alexander Zverev to become world number two again.

However, the Spaniard has now made an admission which could cause major concern to the rest of the ATP Tour.

Carlos Alcaraz says he did not play at a very high level at the Monte Carlo Masters

There is little time to celebrate for Alcaraz, who now turns his attention to the ATP 500 Barcelona Open tournament, where he has twice won the title before.

Ahead of his return to Barcelona, Alcaraz spoke in his pre-tournament press conference about his performances in Monte Carlo.

Despite winning the title, Alcaraz declared that he did not think that his level was that high, but took confidence from this after finding a way to win all five of his matches.

“In Monte Carlo, I didn’t play at a very high level, but it gave me a lot of confidence to get through tough moments—to prove to myself that I can win matches without playing my best tennis,” explained Alcaraz. “That’s what I take away from it.”

Alcaraz lost to David Goffin in his only match at the Miami Open, which was his last tournament prior to switching his attention to clay.

This raised some questions over the four-time Grand Slam champions ability to problem solve when not playing his best tennis, despite Alcaraz now being defended by Andy Roddick.

Alcaraz’s claims about his level not being its best at the Monte Carlo Masters can be supported, as he hit 61 more unforced errors than winners en route to the title.

This was evident in many of his matches, with Alcaraz having to come from a set down against Francisco Cerundolo, Arthur Fils and in the final against the aforementioned Musetti.

Alcaraz beating Fils was a particularly promising sign in terms of him winning when not showing his best level, as he appeared to be facing defeat when he was down, 4-6 5-5 0-40, in the match.

However, like he did throughout the Monte Carlo Masters tournament, Alcaraz overcome adversity and has now proven that he does not always need to be playing his best level to win the biggest titles.

This is a promising sign for Alcaraz ahead of a busy clay court schedule, but not so much for his rivals.

What could Carlos Alcaraz achieve in the 2025 clay court season?

Alcaraz will now head straight into the Barcelona Open, the tournament that he missed last year through injury.

The world number two has four more tournaments to play throughout the rest of the clay court swing, including Alcaraz’s Roland Garros title defence.

Alcaraz has won the Barcelona Open, Madrid Open and Roland Garros before, but has found less success on the clay of Rome.

In his one previous appearance at the Italian Open, Alcaraz was stunned by Fabian Marozsan in the third round and missed the tournament last year due to an arm injury.

Alcaraz had not won a match at the Monte Carlo Masters before lifting the title this year, but is still trying to keep his expectations low ahead of his upcoming tournaments.

“I’m going to give importance to what really matters to me—going out there and enjoying myself, whether I win or lose,” said Alcaraz. “Beyond that, I don’t want to place any expectations on myself.

“I don’t think I’m at my best level. I’ve played better matches this year than the ones in Monte Carlo. Winning is one thing, but feeling like you’ve played well is another.”

Alcaraz will continue to test his level and resilience at the Barcelona Open, where he will play his first round match against young American Ethan Quinn on Tuesday April 15.