Carlos Alcaraz has been told he will be in “pole position” on the ATP Tour if he can improve his serve in 2025.
Alcaraz has been one of the leading ATP stars on tour for multiple seasons, despite only turning 21 back in May.
The Spaniard rose to world No 1 for the first time after winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open in September 2022 and went on to win Wimbledon in 2023.
2024 was another strong season for Alcaraz, who successfully defended his title at SW19 while triumphing at Roland Garros for the first time.
Alcaraz won four titles in total across the season though finished the year as the world No 3, behind No 2 Alexander Zverev – despite the German not lifting a major title.
Consistency ultimately cost the Spaniard at times, with the 21-year-old almost 5,000 points behind world No 1 and chief rival Jannik Sinner in the ATP Rankings.
Sinner holds 11,830 ranking points, with Alcaraz on 7,010 points.
The Spaniard’s serve has been highlighted as one of the slightly weaker points in his game, with Alcaraz sitting down at 12th in the ATP serve leaders chart.
And, writing on Twitter/X, Rick Macci – the former coach of Serena and Venus Williams – implied Alcaraz will be the player to beat should he improve in this area.
He wrote: “The key for Alcaraz will be his serve and getting free lunches or setting the table to eat right away.
“If his spots and % get better on the first serve and this is with a few biomechanical adaptations the Spanish Magician for the [sic] many years be in the pole position.”
Alcaraz will start his 2025 season at the Australian Open, where he will look to make history.
The Spaniard is looking to become the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam, breaking the record that Rafael Nadal set at the US Open.
However, Melbourne has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for him so far in his career.
After a third-round loss as a teenager in 2022, Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the event while being the world No 1 in 2023.
Alcaraz was then beaten in the last eight by Zverev in four sets back in January, a match where the Spaniard looked far from his best – and found little way to trouble his opponent.
The Spaniard is set to be the third seed in Melbourne and is currently set to face one of Zverev or Sinner in the semi-finals.