Andy Roddick pointed out the possible reason for Carlos Alcaraz’s struggles towards the end of the season compared to Jannik Sinner. He mentioned that the Spaniard particularly finds it challenging to compete in indoor hard-court tournaments.
Most recently, Sinner and Alcaraz competed at the 2025 Paris Masters. The Italian defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final to claim the title and reclaim the World No. 1 ranking from Alcaraz. Meanwhile, Alcaraz lost to Cameron Norrie in his opening match at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Last year, the Spaniard also had a disappointing outing at the Paris Masters, losing to Ugo Humbert in the third round.
Andy Roddick Mentions Carlos Alcaraz’s Potential Reason Behind His Struggles at Indoor Tournaments Compared to Jannik Sinner
During an episode of the “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast, Roddick explored why Alcaraz appears to have a harder time at the end of the season compared to Sinner. He explained that the World No. 2 is an “entertainer” who thrives on the atmosphere and energy from the crowd. However, playing on indoor courts towards the end of the season might feel claustrophobic for him.
“Carlos seems to kind of have a hard time finishing the year, where he’s a guy who relies on electricity from the crowd. He likes the atmosphere. He likes the show. He likes being an entertainer. And then you get to this part of the season where you’re outside for like four minutes of daylight every day, right? You’re walking into the venue and it’s light and then you’re walking out of the venue and every place you’re playing is it’s dark at 4:15,” Roddick said.
Roddick suggested that Sinner’s strong performances at the end of the season align better with his personality. In contrast, Alcaraz often needs to feel “inspired” to play at his best.
“It feels like, hopefully I say this correctly, but Sinner is maybe better suited personality wise to go in get the job done, and leave where Carlos maybe needs to get inspired a little bit more. Maybe that’s a reach, I don’t know,” he continued.
Roddick also noted that another factor contributing to Alcaraz’s decline in form during this time could be exhaustion from a long season of competition.
“Also, I don’t think it’s nothing, the fact that Carlos admittedly, and this isn’t my opinion, so save your things, but Carlos is saying, “I’m beat up. I’m mentally exhausted. It’s a long season.” Whereas you’re not hearing that as much from Sinner. And people are like, “Oh, well, there’s a big difference between the two.” And I’m going, “Oh?” or one had three months off during the year,” Roddick added.
Where Will Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Compete Next?
Following the conclusion of their campaigns at the Paris Masters, Sinner and Alcaraz are set to compete next at the 2025 ATP Finals, which is scheduled to take place from November 9 to November 16, 2025. The matches of the season-ending tournament will be played on indoor hard courts at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy.
In addition to Sinner and Alcaraz, players who have already qualified for the singles event at the ATP Finals include Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and Alex de Minaur.
Sinner will be defending his title this year at the tournament. Last year, he was the top seed and began his campaign by defeating seventh seed de Minaur (6-3, 6-4), fifth seed Fritz (6-4, 6-4), and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev (6-3, 6-4) in the round-robin matches.
In the semifinals, the World No. 1 overcame sixth seed Casper Ruud (6-1, 6-2) and then defeated Fritz (6-4, 6-4) in the final to win the 2024 ATP Finals, becoming the first Italian to win the title. Interestingly, en route to the title, he did not drop a set.
On the other hand, Alcaraz, seeded third at the 2024 ATP Finals, began his campaign with a defeat (1-6, 5-7) to Ruud in his first round-robin match. He then bounced back to defeat eighth seed Andrey Rublev (6-3, 7-6(8)) in his second group stage match. However, his campaign ended with a loss (6-7(5), 4-6) to second seed Zverev in the third round robin match.