Carlos Alcaraz gets tennis legend’s space in Shanghai

The Shanghai Masters 1000 is one of the few tournaments, if not the only one, that since 2005 has had private locker rooms for the top players competing. Its 2023 edition began on Wednesday.

The venue has 10 independent rooms, and Carlos Alcaraz, number one seed in the absence of the current ranking leader Novak Djokovic, will occupy the most special one.

Alcaraz takes over from Federer

Alcaraz will change and prepare himself before and after games in the locker room that Roger Federer used for 12 years. The Swiss great was its last occupant in 2019 before the tournament stopped being played for three seasons due to covid and the veto of the organisations that manage tennis due to the alleged abuse that the player Shuai Peng received from a Chinese politician.

As can be seen in the video published on social media, on the door of Alcaraz’s room, marked with a large photograph of the 20-year-old from Murcia, there is a list of the occupants of said room, which includes Federer’s name 12 times. There are also those of Novak Djokovic (2009), Andy Murray (2011) and Milos Raonic (2016).

Alcaraz will be hoping to lift more silverware on Sunday 15 October and faces Grégoire Barrère on Saturday in the round of 64 as he begins his latest quest.

How many ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are there?

in case you were wondering, there are currently nine tournaments that form part of the ATP Masters 1000 series. These are: