Carlitos calls for Davis Cup format revamp

Carlos Alcaraz will stretch himself to the physical limit as the world No. 1 follows up this week’s ATP Finals in Turin with a Davis Cup date in Bologna.

Alcaraz on Thursday won his third and final group match at the Tour’s season wrapup and heads into a Saturday semi-final in northern Italy.

But while second-ranked rival Jannik Sinner will miss the Davis finals run as Italy defends the title, Spain’s Alcaraz says he’s all-in for a final week of competition despite play cutting into the valuable and relatively brief off-season.

“I think the Davis Cup is one of those tournaments that you’re not used to feel and play because you’re playing for your country, you’re playing with your teammates,” the winner of eight titles in 2025 said.

“It’s totally different; it’s one of the most privileged things you can do in our
sport, representing your country.”

But Alcaraz is also aware of the demands that competing for well over 11  months during the year can take on the body and mind.

And he said that the century-plus old event should also consider changing its annual staging and opt for once every other year at a minimum.

“I agree that they’ve got to do something in this event, because I think playing every year, it’s not as good as it might be if you’re playing every two or three years. 

“If the tournament is played like every two years or every three years, the players, the (strength of) commitment of the players, it’s going to be even more because it’s unique, it’s different. 

“You’re not able to play every year.”

Nevertheless, Acaraz plans to go full-on in italy’s good-eating capital of Bologna to help his country to another trophy in the worldwide team competition.
“

I’m playing this year. I really want to win the Davis Cup one day because for me it’s a really important, important tournament. 

“The (ATP) season has been so long. They (tennis bosses) might keep it to have one more week to recover, to do vacation, to do pre-season,which is understandable. It’s normal.

“But I would say they’ve got to do something about it to make the Davis Cup unique.”