Carlos Alcaraz Garfia will close the 2023 season by venturing into new regions across Asia. The El Palmar native, who has not played since his US Open semifinal defeat to Daniil Medvedev, is set to return on September 28 at the China Open, an ATP event he has yet to fully explore in his brief career on the tour. The outdoor hard court in Beijing will greet him as he faces his biggest rival, Novak Djokovic, in the race for world No. 1. Meanwhile, the Serbian ace plans a light schedule, aiming for only two more singles events before season’s end: Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals, with the Davis Cup final slated for Malaga later in November.
Carlos Alcaraz is expected to stay highly active as he chases the top spot. He trails Djokovic by 3,260 points, with Djokovic needing to defend 2,850 points in the final stretch and facing the likelihood of dropping about 750 points since he will not compete in Astana or Tel Aviv, where he appeared as a substitute a year ago. Alcaraz, however, carries 1,500 points from the ATP Finals victory and 600 points from the Paris Masters performance, keeping him firmly in contention for the season’s end.
From this vantage point, Alcaraz holds just 360 points from now until the season’s end; 180 of those come from Paris-Bercy, and another 180 from Basel. The calendar indicates a busy period from early October, with China Open and Shanghai Masters on the slate, followed by the Basel stop. This sequence sets the stage for a stretched, globe-trotting finale that tests endurance as the year winds down.
The Murcian’s next destination after his Asian swing is the Swiss Indoors in Basel, scheduled for late October. Basel represents an ATP 500 stop where he previously played and is set to use the event as preparation for indoor-speed tournaments. The roadmap then leads to the Masters 1,000 in Paris from October 30 to November 5, and finally the ATP Finals in Turin from November 12 to 19. Spain’s Davis Cup aspirations dim for 2023, leaving Alcaraz more time to rest and gear up for the 2024 season.
We finish 2023 in sight of the summit
With Djokovic still a step ahead but not invincible, Alcaraz holds a strong chance to end the year atop both the ATP rankings and the Race to the Championship. He has claimed six titles this season and registered the most wins with 58 victories. By clinching Beijing and Shanghai, he could extend a lead of 770 points over Djokovic in the ATP Race, and a victory in both events would deliver up to 1,500 additional points. Such a surge would also improve chances in Basel and Paris, where last year’s quarterfinal exit at Paris-Bercy and an injury-related absence from the 2022 Finals left room for improvement.
In this late-stage sprint, Alcaraz’s performance could translate into a stronger overall season total and potentially greater earnings in the European stops, while continuing to assert his status on the global circuit. The year-end picture remains fluid, but the El Palmar star looks poised to close 2023 with momentum heading into the 2024 campaign, backed by a consistent display of resilience and peak-level tennis.