Carlos Alcaraz makes bold statement rivals won’t want to hear with ATP Finals looming
Carlos Alcaraz will be the favourite to win the ATP Finals for the first time in his career when he arrives in Turin later this week. The Spaniard is on a nine-match winning streak after lifting back-to-back trophies at the Vienna Open and Paris Masters. Until this year, Alcaraz didn’t have a great historical record in Paris. His best run was a quarter-finals showing back in 2022, and since then, he’d suffered some disappointing opening-round exits.
The world No. 3 also arrived late this year following his title win in Vienna, and had just one practice session before he had to play his opening match on the new, fast courts at the La Defense Arena. But he managed to adjust and, by the end of the week, beat Ben Shelton 7-6(5) 7-5 to claim the tree-branch trophy.
Alcaraz will now be the clear favourite to win the season-ending championships for the first time, which would allow him to cap off an injury-wrecked 2026 season with three straight titles. While he won’t dare label himself the favourite, the seven-time Grand Slam champion has already made a strong claim that his rivals won’t want to hear.
“Probably these two last weeks has been the best that I ever played since my comeback,” the Spanish star said after winning back-to-back titles indoors – conditions that previously weren’t thought to favour him.
Alcaraz was sidelined from mid-April until late August with a wrist injury, missing the French Open and Wimbledon, plus four Masters 1000 events. He returned at the US Open, losing a late-night five-setter to Shelton in the quarter-finals. And he got his revenge for that one in Paris over the weekend.
Afterwards, he explained: “Probably my best week. Yeah, in terms of tennis, you know, I can match it with Vienna that I feel really comfortable in terms of tennis. But I would say this one, this week, I make one step forward mentally.
“I had a lot of really tough moments. I’m not saying match point down, but, you know, during the matches, I faced important and really tough moments internally, fighting with myself, trying to be positive, trying to stay strong mentally, and not letting those negative thoughts put into the game. And I’m just really happy that I just control my emotions, control my thoughts every moment, every single match.”
Alcaraz quickly adjusted from the slower, indoor courts in Vienna to the quick pace in Paris, saving match points against Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. Asked whether he now felt like the favourite in Turin, Alcaraz replied: “I mean, let’s see. The matches were real close for me in this tournament. All I can say is I’m feeling really comfortable. I’m improving, you know, on this surface and in the courts. So let’s see.
“I’m going to go to Turin, going to try to do the same things that I have been doing, always going forward, trying to still improving, to still evolving my game. Let’s see. If I’m the favourite or not or I feel the favourite or not, to be honest, it is not in my hand or I don’t really want to take that in my hand and not think about it.
“Just going there, play my tennis, trying to enjoy, and try to play good tennis. So I’m going to leave it to the people if they see me as a favourite or not.
While Alcaraz’s season has been defined by a wrist injury, it’s also been a year of firsts. He began 2026 by winning the Australian Open for the very first time, completing the career Grand Slam. It was a title he’d eyed for a long time.
And the world No. 3 then said that he and his team had also had their sights set on the Paris Masters. “It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time, to be honest,” Alcaraz said immediately after the final. And he feels the same about the ATP Finals, where he finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner a year ago,” he explained.
Obviously the ATP Finals is, you know, the best eight players in the world. It is a really important tournament for everybody. That’s what we are working for and making a really good position to start the year the best that we can, and playing during the whole year the best that we can to qualify to that tournament. So that means, you know, we just put extra motivation, extra energy to come into that tournament.
“So as I said openly, this is a tournament that I really want to win one day. I don’t know if it’s gonna be this year, next year, if I’m ever gonna be able to win this tournament, but I’m gonna work hard. I’m going to believe that I can do that, and, you know, I’m going to go this year with a lot of confidence, with a lot of information in my bag on the things that I really wanted to improve and be better on that tournament, and I’m going to go for it, for sure.
