World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz has been quite vocal about the lengthy tennis calendar, so why does he sign up for so many exhibition matches?<\/p>\n
The man himself says those who criticise players for off-season events \u201cdon\u2019t understand why players are complaining\u201d and insists there is a massive difference between a professional tournament and a one-off \u201cfun\u201d match.<\/p>\n
The six-time Grand Slam winner has hit the 80-match mark for the first time in his career<\/a> as he finished the 2025 season with a 71-9 win-loss record across 16 tournaments, reaching 11 finals and winning eight titles with his biggest trophies coming at the French Open and US Open.<\/p>\n But the 22-year-old is one of several players<\/a> who have expressed their unhappiness with the long season with the likes of Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff also complaining.<\/p>\n However, some of them have been accused of being hypocritical as they have signed up for exhibition events with Alcaraz top of the list as he played in an in-season exhibition match against Frances Tiafoe in March and the Six Kings Slam<\/a> in October and will play another three before the start of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n Former world No 1 Jimmy Connors recently called it the \u201cmoney-making season\u201d<\/a> as he was one of those who questioned the decision to play exhibition matches.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Associated Press, Alcaraz<\/a> defended the one-day events, saying: \u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s normal that people think that way and they don\u2019t understand why we\u2019re complaining about the calendar and then we set up the exhibition matches.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for me, the main difference is that, at a tournament, you\u2019ve got to keep your focus and it\u2019s really physically and mentally demanding for one week and a half. And an exhibition is just one day. You just stay focused, just warm up, just practice not that much \u2014 for one match.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz News<\/p>\n