ATP Tour

Alcaraz, 'same kid, same dreams', raring to go on Vienna return

Carlos Alcaraz is ready to dial in and make up for lost time across the final weeks of the 2026 season.

The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is in Vienna this week for the Erste Bank Open, where he is seeking to add a fourth tour-level title to his 2026 tally. Alcaraz is particularly eager to get stuck into ATP Tour action once again having last competed two weeks ago at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he lost to Zizou Bergs on 12 October.

“I have not played many tournaments this year. I need competition, tournaments and match rhythm to get back to my best level,” the Spaniard, who has already qualified for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, said at his pre-tournament press conference in Vienna. “I am happy with the way I am playing and with my current level, but I still feel that I am not quite there yet.

“I need to come here, practise with these players and compete against them to regain that rhythm step by step. I had gone a few weeks without competing, and my team and I felt that playing here in Vienna would be a really good opportunity. It is such a tough draw, with great players coming here for the tournament. I felt that this would be a very important week and a great opportunity for me to continue improving.”

Alcaraz will be competing in the Austrian capital for the first time since 2021, when he defeated Daniel Evans, Andy Murray and Matteo Berrettini to reach his first ATP 500 semi-final as an 18-year-old. The Spaniard, whose breakout run in Vienna that year was halted by Alexander Zverev in the last four, reflected on everything he has achieved in the half decade since.

“Five years may not sound like much, but at the same time, it has been a really long journey for me,” Alcaraz, who became the youngest No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history in 2022 and is now a 27-time tour-level champion, said. “I have already achieved great things since the first time I played here, and I am really proud of that. But I still feel like the same guy, the same kid, with the same ambitions and the same dreams.

“I still enjoy every moment when I step onto the court. Sometimes it is really difficult to reflect on the entire journey, all the tournaments I have played and all the tournaments I have won. Everything is non-stop. You just keep playing, keep practising, and you do not really take in everything that has happened. Looking back now, it is amazing, but I have never really stopped to think about it.”

Regardless of his result in Vienna this week, Alcaraz knows exactly how he wants to go about his business as he looks to add a second indoor ATP Tour trophy to the one he claimed in Rotterdam in 2025. The 23-year-old, who will step out for his first-round encounter with Karen Khachanov with a 33-5 record for the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, was asked how he views his status as a role model within tennis.

“I would say the best thing I can do as a role model is show how I behave, both on and off the court,” Alcaraz, who missed more than four months earlier this season due to a wrist injury, said. “It is not only about winning tournaments. It is about how I show up, how I fight and how much I love the game. I think that is important.

“I was out of competition for five months. The way I behaved during that period, how I tried to recover as quickly as possible and how I approached the injury mentally — those things are important as well. I do not feel any pressure because I am simply being myself, both on and off the court. I am really happy that children and many other people see me as a good role model. I will try to keep doing the same things because that is simply who I am.”