Carlos Alcaraz opened up on his hectic journey to Shanghai (Image: Getty)
has detailed his mad dash to get to the Shanghai Masters after winning the China Open on Wednesday.
The world No. 2 beat in a thrilling And the rivals “ran” to get a private jet to Shanghai ahead of their opening matches on Saturday.
It comes weeks after Alcaraz , claiming: “They are going to kill us in some way.”
Alcaraz has been vocal about the gruelling nature of the professional tennis tour. And he felt the effects after lifting his 16th career title in Beijing.
The Spaniard went straight from the grounds to the plane and only landed in Shanghai at 4am. It meant Alcaraz barely got any sleep before turning up to the tournament site for his media duties.
Opening up on his mad dash to Shanghai, the four-time Grand Slam champion said: “Well, I said so many times, the tennis schedule is so tight, but we have to get used to it, or I guess we have to.
“Yeah, yesterday we finished 8.30, 9pm, three-hours match, and then I had no time to do anything else.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner got on a plane straight after their China Open final (Image: Getty)
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Alcaraz knew he would have to go straight to Shanghai and came prepared. “I just went to the club before the final with all the bags, because I knew that we had to run after the finals to take the flight to come here,” he continued.
“We arrived at 4am, just to be ready or just to have some sleep here in Shanghai, and woke up here in Shanghai, as I said, to get used to the conditions here and try to be ready for my first match.
“The tennis schedule is so, so tight. We are traveling, you know, from tournament to tournament, with just one or two days before the tournament begins, so it is difficult, but we have to get used to it.”
Alcaraz and Sinner are in the same section of the draw at the Shanghai Masters. They have byes directly into the second round and their half was scheduled to play round two matches on Friday.
But tournament organisers will give them an extra day of rest after their final in Beijing, . The Spaniard will still be taking it easy and resting before he begins his campaign.
“Well, I just had six hours of sleep, so I couldn’t sleep more. Yeah, now I came here today, I’m going to rest a little bit, I think I need it,” Alcaraz explained.
“Tomorrow I’m going to start practising, and then Saturday I’m going to try to play my best. Yeah, I will try to get used to, as much as I can, just one practice, one hour, one hour and a half, let’s see, but I think I’ll be ready. But, yeah, as I said, we have not too much time to practice, to get used to these conditions, but as a tennis player we have to do it.”
Alcaraz’s comments about the quick turnaround come after he reignited the debate over the demanding schedule. During the Laver Cup, the 21-year-old said: “I’m the kind of player who think there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments, and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments.
“So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now they are showing up a lot of injuries because of the ball, because of the calendar, because a lot of things.”