Turin-Bologna: final challenge for Alcaraz in his strangest season
Carlos Alcaraz will remember this 2026 for a long time. First, because it was the year in which he became the youngest player in history to complete the Grand Slam with his victory in January at the Australian Open.
But then things went badly wrong. An injury to his right wrist kept him off the slopes for more than four monthsdefinitively burying their chances of fighting for number 1 at the end of the season.
Fortunately, his recovery was complete and the Murcian has returned to the path of triumph with the titles recently achieved in Vienna and Paris, two prestigious indoor tournaments in which he had never achieved notable results.
This good line of play and results is what allows him to be more optimistic than ever in the face of the two great challenges that remain in this month of November: the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup.
In Turin he will chase the title that always eluded Rafa Nadal, suffering at the end of the campaign against two kings of the indoor and hard court like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Murcian, 23 years old, aspires to emulate Manolo Orantes and Àlex Corretjathe only Spaniards who have been crowned ‘masters’, and this seems to be the year.
“My team and I have found a way to play well indoorson very fast surfaces and against rivals of this type. We are very happy and proud of it,” he declared after winning the Paris Masters 1000.
“Seeing myself as a favorite is one thing that I think is detrimental to myself. Let’s try not to think about it. Let the people decide if I am or not,” said Alcaraz, who this Thursday will meet his three rivals in the group stage of the masters tournament.
For next week there will be Davis Cup, where Alcaraz will lead a powerful Spanish team who has before him a golden opportunity to add his seventh ‘salad bowl’. The good state of form Rafa Jodaralso qualified for the ATP Finals in the year of his debut on the professional circuit, and Alexander Davidovichwhose recent physical problems should not prevent him from reaching the appointment, added to the solvency shown by Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez As a doubles couple, they place Spain as one of the great favorites to snatch the throne from an Italy without Sinner or Berrettini.
