[Tonofdreams]

I won't be surprised if Jannik withdraws from one of the coming tournaments too, maybe not Shanghai, but later in the season.

 

[YonaMX]

Alcaraz withdrawing from two Masters tournaments after the draw had already been made in the same season is not a good look.

 

[Patrick López]

Alcaraz has no choice but to withdraw after that ankle injury. It was the sensible option after the week he had.

With that said, I still think his schedule was too much after the US Open. Ideally would have been to play Shanghai after the US Open but I understand that may have been a long break so he should have sticked to playing LC and then Shanghai. But now after playing so much tennis, he’s forced to withdraw from another Masters, his 3rd masters withdrawal this season due to precautionary measures.

It happened in Barcelona as well. I think Alcaraz needs to withdraw from some 500s and prioritise masters more.

While I don't disagree, slim chance he'll be skipping the most prestigious Spanish tournament (everybody lowkey hates Madrid) in the future, even if it's only a 500. Players love Barcelona, Spanish players most of all I'd say. They must be very well looked-after there.

He should have retired from Tokyo after the ankle woes in the first match, though.

 

[del piero]

So are we just gonna ignore that Carlos just toyed an entire ATP 500 field, including the world #5 with one leg🤣

Get well soon, Carlos.

I know another player ,really old that "TOYED" with current number one on one leg in AO

 

[runetime]

Get better soon champ!

 

[Johnny Groove]

Momentum building opportunity though

There's no point in Sinner banging his head against the wall for YEC. If Alcaraz does poorly and Sinner goes on an insane tear then he'll get it. But it's not worth overplaying for. It's very likely Alcaraz gains points in Turin anyways (not to mention all the other tournaments like Paris).

HOWEVER, all tournaments are connected and I think Sinner should focus on playing just enough where he chips away at the point difference slowly to enter striking distance by AO 2026. At that point, AO 2026 is essentially a very critical slam for Sinner anyways so he'll have to do well (ie. win it) anyways.

I think Sinner should skip Davis Cup this time tbh. Vienna also probably worth skipping, rather he plays Paris.

Not looking past Tien ha

But really just needs to go one match at a time. Get in striking distance by Indian Wells so he can pick up a lot of points in that time when he was suspended

Sinner was smart to skip Laver Cup too

 

[Drango]

Indeed, the biggest play by Alcaraz here is him pitting Djoko in Sinner's half this time. I'm not sure if this is good or bad for Nole.

Def unlucky for Novak, but I wouldn't be shocked if Sinner doesn't make the SFs tbh - looks like he will have to get through Bublik and Frtiz/Rune B2B, all players who have beaten or troubled him before so will be interesting to see how it plays out

Meanwhile Novak's path to the SF seems a lot easier/straight forward

 

[FilipoSVK]

@del piero apparently, Moutet moved to Alca's place, and Basilashvili will play Cilic instead of him. Hope this answer is what you expected.

 

[Ace2ndServe]

Good call. No point putting unnecessary mileage at this time of the year. The stock of non slams in general has fallen in recent times.

He should enter a couple more tournaments this year to get some practice in and have a bit of a laugh and then concentrate on AO.

But the number 1 ranking is super important. And he has just given Sinner an opening.

 

[laughingcavalier]

@del piero apparently, Moutet moved to Alca's place, and Basilashvili will play Cilic instead of him. Hope this answer is what you expected.

This all makes Medvedev's section easier as he avoids Alcaraz and has Fokina & Norrie who he brushed aside just days ago in his section.

And yes,he also has Wu in the 2nd round if he wins so he'd be gunning for revenge against him straight up.

On form & paper at the moment it looks like a possible Zverev vs De Minaur semi-final matchup in the Top half.

 

[del piero]

@del piero apparently, Moutet moved to Alca's place, and Basilashvili will play Cilic instead of him. Hope this answer is what you expected.

What?👀👀

 

[del piero]

This all makes Medvedev's section easier as he avoids Alcaraz and has Fokina & Norrie who he brushed aside just days ago in his section.

And yes,he also has Wu in the 2nd round if he wins so he'd be gunning for revenge against him straight up.

On form & paper at the moment it looks like a possible Zverev vs De Minaur semi-final matchup in the Top half.

With his cramping last match,i don't think he can go deep right away.
Days of him rolling through almost all players on HC are gone.
Needs fresh legs

 

[Johnny Groove]

I won't be surprised if Jannik withdraws from one of the coming tournaments too, maybe not Shanghai, but later in the season.

If Sinner wins Beijing, Shanghai, and 6 Kings, almost surely he will skip Vienna to play Paris, Turin, and Davis Cup finals

 

[BaselineGod]

Great decision from Carlos, not overplay, rest and Save yourself for maybe Paris, or the WTF.

 

[BaselineGod]

This reminds me of King withdrawing from Beijing in 2016 to play some exho against Nadal, and as a result, losing YE#1 to Pushray.
Sinner will be YE#1, book it.

Well you dont know how much Money was behind that Exho, and probably sponsors, contract and business there too..

 

[laughingcavalier]

With his cramping last match,i don't think he can go deep right away.
Days of him rolling through almost all players on HC are gone.
Needs fresh legs

Cramps which is just one of those things that a player will get in a match..... however,it's not something that's going to keep him out of the next upcoming tournament... particularly with what's at stake for him.

He potentially has Fokina 3rd round,Norrie 4th round & Zverev Quarters which are 3 players he all rolled in straights sets just day ago.

Yes he isn't anywhere near the player he was long ago.. but this draw should really give him a hard on & provide some motivation to kick on.

He was one game away from reaching the Beijing final without dropping a set.

 

[Kaman]

Alcaraz withdrawing from two Masters tournaments after the draw had already been made in the same season is not a good look.

It's not his fault the ATP calendar puts these 500s right up against 1000s

 

[del piero]

It's not his fault the ATP calendar puts these 500s right up against 1000s

Yona specifically pointed out AFTER the draw.
Look at Carlos Shanghai section after withdrawal.
Mugtet as number 33 took his place.

 

[R]

Will you stop with the Six Kings nonsense

Six Million Dollar Slam > Any Masters event. Obviously.

 

[R]

Alcaraz has no choice but to withdraw after that ankle injury. It was the sensible option after the week he had.

With that said, I still think his schedule was too much after the US Open. Ideally would have been to play Shanghai after the US Open but I understand that may have been a long break so he should have sticked to playing LC and then Shanghai. But now after playing so much tennis, he’s forced to withdraw from another Masters, his 3rd masters withdrawal this season due to precautionary measures.

It happened in Barcelona as well. I think Alcaraz needs to withdraw from some 500s and prioritise masters more.

It's not a matter of "playing so much tennis" or a matter of excessive load but the random ankle tweak. Had he not had that mishap, he'd be continuing to Shanghai.