Don’t say to Alcaraz he struggles playing indoors: he’s “not bad, just bettered”
The World No. 1 is dominant on every surface except one. Carlos Alcaraz is determined to shed the label of an indoor underperformer at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Carlos Alcaraz, 2025 | © Federico Pestellini / PSNewz
Carlos Alcaraz’s staggering success has one glaring exception: a lack of dominant results at the season’s most significant indoor events. The young Spaniard, however, is resolute, viewing the upcoming trio of tournaments — the Rolex Paris Masters, the ATP Finals, and the Davis Cup – as a golden opportunity to finally conquer the indoor circuit.
“I wouldn’t say I’m bad playing indoors. I think other players are better than me on the indoor side. It’s a huge difference to say that,” stated the reigning World No. 1. When a journalist framed the question around why it is “more difficult” for him to play under the roof, the 23-year-old’s immediate, almost reflexive, response was a gentle but firm pushback against oversimplification.
Yet, the query is rooted in clear statistical facts. Despite holding six Grand Slam titles, Alcaraz has consistently failed to deliver his best tennis in the most crucial indoor moments of the season:
- Rolex Paris Masters
Best result : quarterfinal in 2022
5 wins & 4 losss
1 win in 2024 and 2025 combined - ATP Finals
Best result : semifinal in 2023
3 wins and 4 losses - Davis Cup
Best result : quarterfinal in 2025
5 wins, 1 loss
The Burden of Bercy
The Rolex Paris Masters, in particular, has been the Spaniard’s personal torment. From his shocking 2021 loss to the unseeded Hugo Gaston in a fever-pitch atmosphere, to his 2024 defeat against Ugo Humbert, via a crippling mid-match injury against Holger Rune in 2022, and an ugly early exit against Roman Safiullin in 2023 – the old Bercy arena has seldom been kind to ‘Carlitos’.
Might things change at the new La Défense Arena, where he lost a practice set against Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6 (5)? It’s possible. Alcaraz noticed a crucial difference: the surface has slowed down, and he views the change as a decisive positive.
year after year, I think I’m getting more accustomed to it
“It’s much slower than last year. It is a really good speed where we can see tennis – not only serve or serve-plus-one. You can see rallies, you can see points, you can see real tennis. So I think it’s great,” he explained. “Obviously I’ve said many times that I like, you know, slower courts, not that fast.”
Acknowledging his past record, he added, “This tournament is not my best one in terms of results, but I love playing here… The time of the year, you know, it’s been long with the indoor. I’m not really used to playing indoors, but year after year, I think I’m getting more accustomed to it.”
Rotterdam: The Turning Point
Winning Rotterdam earlier this year—his first-ever professional indoor tournament title—ticked an important box for the multi-surface player that he is. He navigated defeated Botic van de Zandschulp, Andrea Vavassori, Pedro Martínez, Hubert Hurkacz, and finally, one of the best players indoors, the current UTS champion Alex de Minaur.
“I see myself practicing, playing matches where I can play really good tennis,” Alcaraz reflected. “But obviously there are some matches that I played against guys who are playing much, much better indoors than I do. So I have to be ready for that, but I think I will achieve a high level of tennis on the indoor surface.”
If anyone is “much, much better” than Carlitos indoors, the shortlist is brutally short. It consists of two men: Novak Djokovic, an eight-time ATP Finals champion who outclassed Alcaraz in their 2023 semi-final clash, and Jannik Sinner, who recently extended his remarkable indoor winning streak to 20 straight matches with his title run in Vienna – he will meet the Paris Masters’ 2024 champion in final on Sunday.
Four months after their unbelievable final at Roland-Garros, the tennis world, and Paris itself, craves nothing less than a blockbuster Sinner-Alcaraz rematch to showcase on the second-greatest arena on Tour, behind the Arthur-Ashe Stadium. By the way, it would be a revenge. The very first Alcaraz-Sinner happened at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2021. And Alcaraz prevailed.
