Roger Federer comments suggest Carlos Alcaraz’s racket switch should strike fear into rivals
Carlos Alcaraz has changed his racket heading into 2025 season and if the example of the great Roger Federer is a gauge for what is to come, the tennis world needs to watch out for the young Spaniard as he prepares for the Australian Open.
At the age of 21, Alcaraz has already achieved so much in tennis, with the four-time Grand Slam champion looking to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open later this month.
While 2024 was an incredible year for Alcaraz and included French Open and Wimbledon triumphs, his decision to switch to a heavier Babolat racket for the new season is an intriguing development.
With Jannik Sinner dominating the men’s game, Alcaraz is seeking to find the small improvements he needs to get back to the top of the ATP Rankings and adding Samuel Lopez, the former coach of Pablo Carreno Busta to a team that will still long-term mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero is one big development.
The second is his new racket and while the off-season always sees players trying out a host of frames from their racket supplier, going public on a big change is a somewhat surprising move from Alcaraz and his team.
In an interview with Marca, Lopez confirmed that Alcaraz will play with a heavier racket over the next 12 months.
“It’s an additional help in hitting,” said Lopez. “With that acceleration that he has, he’s going to gain in power and ball weight.
“With his impact quality, with a heavier racquet, just by touching the ball in front of you, you take more advantage of the force of how it comes to you. It’s been very noticeable these days in the return.”
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Making a racket switch after a start to his career that has been so successful is a bold move and it revives memories of Federer making a similar move as he switched to a bigger frame in the latter stages of his career.
The move produced instant results, as he exploded back to Grand Slam winning form as he developed a power-packed single-handed backhand that took his game to the next level.
After struggling to combat high balls on his backhand side in matches against his great rival Rafael Nadal, the bigger frame gave Federer an extra dimension and helped him to win the 2017 Australian Open in thrilling fashion.
Prior to that, he also made a big racket change, as he outlined in a Wilson video last year, as he looked back on his change from the Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 85″, the Wilson Pro Staff Tour 90″.
“The move from the 85″ to the 90″ was straight forward and it felt very natural,” he said.
“Then in 2013, I had a back problem in Indian Wells and I had a terrible back for many weeks and months and I said there are also some good things about this – I have more time to try new things.
“I felt the 90” frame was a little too small and said how about we try something bigger? Something that would help me gain more on the backhand side because I felt the pain with Rafa’s (Nadal’s) lefty forehand going high onto my backhand side.
“So I spoke to Wilson, did some racket testing and we came up with the RF97, which I thought was a great racket.
“I see it as an exciting period when you change rackets. Daring to do it, being confident about the change.”
If Alcaraz’s racket change has the same impact as Federer’s, he will be a major threat to lift the title at the Australian Open for the first time.
Alcaraz’s forehand is already a power-packed shot when he connects with it, but adding a little more weight, accuracy and consistency to the most dynamic shot in tennis to the next level.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz confirmed for high-profile matches in Australia
