Carlos Alcaraz has been on a non-stop tennis playing streak lately. Since his Italian Open triumph in Rome, the former World No.1 has entered almost every major tournament. No matter if it’s the slams or a Masters or a 500 campaign. He was at the Roland Garros, where he defended his crown from 2024, then the Queen’s Club, where he won the trophy. Moving further, we saw him at Wimbledon, where Sinner broke his three-peat dream, and now at Cincinnati. Not to mention that he emerged as the last man standing after arch-rival Sinner chose to retire. While the Spaniard has been entering all the crucial events, he’s made his stance very clear on the schedule. It’s not been kind to him. Why? “I love playing tennis. I love when I step on the court, but sometimes it is too many days in a row, too many weeks in a row. So I just love to take my time off just with my family, with my friends, just at home doing nothing at all.”

Guess what? The five-time slam winner just reiterated his sentiments ahead of a crucial mixed doubles campaign at the US Open. Just 24 hours after his Cincinnati triumph, he is set to appear in New York. Can you believe it? Neither can Alcaraz. But you know, the schedule. During the press conference, he didn’t mince words while sharing thoughts on playing with British WTA star Emma Raducanu to battle it out for the $1 million prize money. “I mean it is good. The scheduling, it is not the best, to be honest, playing tomorrow. But you know what is about the concept of the tournament about the mixed doubles? I just loved it. I think it’s going to be new for me, which I love.”

Despite the grueling schedule, however, he is going to give it his all. “I will try to be my best tomorrow after the trip to New York and probably sleep late but I will try to put my best tennis,” he concluded.

Alcaraz and Raducanu are set to play their first match in the US Open mixed doubles event against Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula. The face-off will take place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Coming back to Alcaraz’s unfiltered take on scheduling then it’s becoming a serious issue. Especially after what everyone witnessed during the Cincinnati Open final on Monday. Yes, Alcaraz managed to stay afloat to give his best despite tough heat conditions. But his opponent and World No.1 Sinner couldn’t take it eventually.

Carlos Alcaraz’s arch-rival simply couldn’t go on

Fans were glued to their screens while those at the stadium were hoping to witness another cliffhanger. After all, that’s what they saw when the two met on three previous occasions this season. In Rome, Carlos Alcaraz emerged victorious in the summit clash. Then in Paris, he again conquered Jannik Sinner in a 5-hour-29-minute battle to defend his 2024 French Open title.

However, Sinner finally took his sweet revenge last month during the Wimbledon final. He dethroned Alcaraz and became the new king of grass. At the Cincinnati Open, they were playing a fourth-straight final against each other in 2025. Alcaraz took the initial lead as he charged in the first set with a 5-0 domination. It took him just 23 minutes to do so against the defending Cincinnati winner.

Sadly, though, the match came to an anticlimactic end as Sinner was forced to retire after feeling unwell. Well, you can’t blame him when the match takes place at 3pm local time with temperatures soaring as high as 32 degrees (close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit). Once he called his physio on the court, it became clear that he was not willing to resume. “I’m super, super sorry to disappoint you, (but) from yesterday I didn’t feel great,” he told the fans present at the P&G Center Court. “I thought that I would improve during the night, but I came up worse.”

The four-time slam winner added, “I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more, so I’m very sorry.” Following this result, Spain’s ATP pro Alejandro Davidovich Fokina couldn’t help but get annoyed. Especially at the event organizers on how the matches have been scheduled lately. Fokina’s post on X read, “A Monday final at 3pm in August in Cincinnati, after the whole Toronto–Cincinnati swing, with so many retirements and players dead tired… something needs to change.”

What are your thoughts on Sinner’s retirement from the final against Alcaraz? Is the scheduling pattern responsible for his unfortunate fate? Let us know in the comments below.