World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is winning up his preseason preparations in his native Spain before flying to Australia.
With most of his peers already jetting Down Under and accumulating some minutes on the match court in one of two ATP tournaments running this week, Alcaraz has not signed up to play any warm-up tournaments before the season's first Grand Slam.
Instead, the young Spaniard elected to extend his off-season training into the new year at the Ferrero Tennis Academy in Villena. In recent weeks, Alcaraz has been a busy fixture, playing in multiple exhibition matches across three continents.
The 20-year-old took part in the second annual of TennisFest GNP exhibition in Mexico City, where he played in front of nearly 30,000 fans and defeated American Tommy Paul. Alcaraz then traveled to Los Cabos to train hotel guests in a joint collaboration with the One&Only Palmilla - a Mexican holiday resort.
On his return to Spain, Alcaraz was given the honor of lighting up the Green Christmas Tree in his home city, Murcia, to keep up with the tradition of welcoming the festive season. He only stayed for a few weeks and trained with his rival, Jannik Sinner, before flying to Saudi Arabia.
Alcaraz played Novak Djokovic in a lucrative exhibition match, which was announced as early as September as part of the Gulf Kingdom's annual sporting extravaganza dubbed the Riyadh Season. He defeated the World No. 1 in three sets in front of a cheerful crowd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Less than two days later, Alcaraz returned to Spain to play another exhibition against compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia, in a match he won and lifted the inaugural Copa Carlos Alcaraz.
Having ushered the new year in the company of family and friends, Alcaraz is back on the practice courts to finish his preparations before joining his rivals in Australia. He does not intend to play any tuneup tournaments before the 2024 Australian Open.
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