Carlos Alcaraz schedule: Will world No 1 skip any clay events after Miami Open struggles?
Carlos Alcaraz got his wish to “go home” as he was bundled out of the Miami Open and he is now set for a break before switching focus to the clay-court season.
After a brilliant start to the 2026 season that saw him lift trophies at the Australian Open and Qatar Open, the seven-time Grand Slam winner has come unstuck in recent weeks as he was first upset by Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open.
He was back to his best in the second round of the Miami Open as he beat Joao Fonseca in two sets, but then came unstuck against Sebastian Korda with the American winning in three sets.
Korda won the opening set and was also a break up midway in the second before Alcaraz bounced back to take it to a decider, but the world No 1 eventually lost 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.
The Spaniard struggled throughout the encounter and at one point he told his coach Samuel Lopez “I can’t take it anymore, I want to go home now, man. I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore.”
On the back of his defeat, Alcaraz will now head back to Spain and he will get an extra week’s rest as he won’t be involved in the latter stages of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Florida.
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When asked about his plans following his exit, the 22-year-old stated: “I don’t know. I’ll probably go home, something that I’m very excited about, to spend a few days relaxing with my family and friends. I don’t know how much rest and days off my team will allow me.
“Suddenly, I’ll get back to the routine, back on the court. The clay court season is just around the corner. I have some very good tournaments there, and I’m looking forward to playing.
“Yes, right now what I have in mind is taking a few days off, disconnecting, recharging my batteries, being ready and in good shape for the clay-court season.”
What’s To Come During Clay Season?
The Monte Carlo Masters is first on the agenda for Alcaraz and he is the defending champion in the Principality with the event running from 1-12 April.
The world No 1 has made no secret of the fact that he would like to take an extended break, but he is unlikely to skip the first Masters clay-court tournament of the year due to the 1,000 points he has to defend.
With Jannik Sinner closing the gap, he can’t afford to drop too many points if he wants to stay at the top of the ATP Rankings.
The ATP 500 Barcelona Open starts on 13 April and once again Alcaraz has a lot of points to defend as he finished runner-up to Holger Rune in 2025. It is a tournament close to his heart as he has won it twice.
The Madrid Open could be the one event he skips as he didn’t play last year so he doesn’t have any points to defend, but then again Sinner also doesn’t have points to defend as he missed the 2025 edition to his ban.
The Italian Open is the final ATP 1000 clay event of the year and Alcaraz once again have 1,000 points to defend as he defeated Sinner in the final last year.
After that, the focus turns to the French Open where he has 2,000 points to defend while Sinner will drop 1,300 points.
