Carlos Alcaraz makes a drastic change to his 2025 schedule

Carlos Alcaraz is eventually going to regain the No. 1 ranking on the ATP tour. After holding the top ranking midway through 2023, the Spaniard did not win another tournament after Wimbledon the rest of the year. In 2024, he got off to an inconsistent start due to a forearm injury and form, but then he won the French Open and Wimbledon. He is the best player on the ATP tour currently.

The 21-year-old doesn't have a long history of playing professional tennis, of course. He isn't old enough to do so. But he has had success in South America in previous years as he won the event in Buenos Aires in 2023and won in Rio in 2022. The fans are great on the continent and they deserve to have their own Masters 1000 event. That is not set to happen, though.

Tennis fans in South America also should not expect to see Alcaraz in 2025. He has decided not to play in those tournaments but to instead likely play in one or two European indoor events after the Australian Open before heading to the United States to play at Indian Wells and in Miami. This could allow him to rest a bit more while not hurting his ranking in any way.

Carlos Alcaraz makes a huge change to his 2025 schedule that leaves out South America

Instead, South American fans will get to watch Alexander Zverev. He has committed to play in both the Buenos Aires and Rio events. He is an excellent clay-court player with an excellent chance of winning the tournaments if he stays healthy. Still, he isn't Alcaraz and he is unlikely to consistently be ranked as high as the Spaniard.

The Buenos Aires Open is only an ATP 250 event. The Rio Open is a 500 tournament. In other words, while the fans are excellent and the tournaments are fairly well run, players don't gain that many points by playing them.

Hopefully, that gets remedied with a Masters 1000 tournament. The ATP has not implied that is going to happen soon, though.

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