Carlos Alcaraz was very honest about his weaknesses ahead of his return to action at the 2026 Qatar Open in Doha.
Alcaraz is the highest-ranked player on the ATP Tour. He is a seven-time major champion, and at 22, he is already a legendary player. Despite all of this, he is also aware of the fact that if he wants to continue breaking records, he needs to keep improving.
When Alcaraz's Netflix documentary, Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, was released in 2025, many questioned whether he had what it takes to become a true legend of the sport. It appeared that the young Spaniard didn't want to sacrifice much to be successful on the tennis courts.
His former coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, seemingly shared that opinion, but since then, Alcaraz has proven everyone wrong. Not only has he continued winning major titles, but he is also showing a desire to continue improving.
Speaking ahead of the ATP 500 tournament in Doha, where the world No. 1 will compete between February 16th and 21st, Alcaraz mentioned that he and his team set goals for the upcoming Qatar Open, but not related to his results, but instead his improvement.
"It's good to be back on the court again. I've been training well. Obviously, what I did in Australia was incredible for me, and I still think about it a bit. But tennis is about moving forward tournament after tournament. Every tournament is great, it's special, and you want to give 100%."
"My team and I have set some goals for this tournament. We're not talking about results at all. It's more about continuing to improve."
Alcaraz is aware of the fact that, despite currently being the best player in the world, he, too, has some weaknesses. He wants to continue working on his game to become the best version of himself on the tennis courts and prevent his rivals from overtaking him.
"Obviously, I can see myself that [I have had] a lot of success so far, winning the biggest tournaments in the world. But I just see myself with weaknesses. A lot of players, I know that they’re trying to catch me up in terms of studying my game, they study how I play, trying to beat me, trying to challenge me."
"I have to be ready for that, and I have to see where my level is, where my tennis is. I have to try to put myself in their minds and think what they could do when playing against me. So that’s what I mean about saying I have to improve some things. Obviously, you cannot be lagging in the level, you just have to keep it going."
Alcaraz will soon have a chance to show how much he has improved since we last saw him on the tennis court, which was on February 1st, 2026, when he lifted his maiden Australian Open trophy after beating Novak Djokovic in the final. This time, his opponent will be Arthur Rinderknech.
Alcaraz will play against the Frenchman in the first round of the Qatar Open, and if he succeeds, he will take on another French player, the winner of the match between Valentin Royer and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
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