‘Carlos Alcaraz’s only goal is to win Grand Slams – he wants to get to that 20 number’, says former ATP pro
Former world No 21 Steve Johnson believes Carlos Alcaraz’s “only goal” is to win Grand Slam titles and argued the Spaniard’s schedule reflects this.
The American assessed that Alcaraz is “missing some big events” that his legendary compatriot Rafael Nadal “never missed in his career.”
Alcaraz, who will not turn 22 until May 5 next year, has already won four major titles — and he can become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam if he wins any of the next three editions of the Australian Open.
The Spanish star became the youngest world No 1 in ATP history after securing his maiden Grand Slam crown at the 2022 US Open aged 19.
Alcaraz has since won Wimbledon in 2023 and 2024, beating Novak Djokovic in both finals, while he also triumphed at the 2024 French Open.
The world No 3 played 16 standard tournaments in 2024 and also competed at the Laver Cup, as well as the Davis Cup Finals group and knockout stages.
He withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open and the Italian Open during an injury-hit clay-court season, while he also skipped the Montreal Masters — which came shortly after the Paris Olympics.
Carlos Alcaraz News
‘Carlos Alcaraz has more charisma and is more popular than Jannik Sinner’, says former world No 11
Carlos Alcaraz No 1, Novak Djokovic rises: ATP year-end top 10 predictions
Speaking on an episode of the Nothing Major podcast, Johnson claimed that Alcaraz’s relatively light schedule last season was strategic.
“I feel like Carlos Alcaraz is doing his schedule strictly to win Slams,” the four-time ATP singles titlist said.
“He’s missing Masters series. He’s skipping Madrid or he’s not playing Montreal. I think his only goal is to win Slams. I don’t think he cares about winning the [ATP] 250 [tournaments].
“I think he’s only doing things to win Slams. He wants to get to that 20 number. That’s what it feels like because he’s missing some big events that Rafa never missed in his career.”
Alcaraz criticised the length of the tennis season on multiple occasions in recent months and joked that the ATP “are going to kill” players.
“I’m the kind of player who thinks there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments,” the 21-year-old said.
“So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now they are showing up a lot of injuries because of the ball, because of the calendar, because of a lot of things.”
Alcaraz will begin his 2025 season at the Australian Open, which will run from January 12-26. The four-time Grand Slam winner’s best previous result at the Melbourne major was his run to the quarter-finals in 2024, which ended with a four-set loss to Alexander Zverev.
