Many have been resting after a tough year, as they get ready to do it all over again in the new year, but some have been keeping busy.

World number three Alcaraz, is one of those, having played in two huge American exhibition events last week.

Alcaraz played Ben Shelton at Madison Square Garden, earning a reported appearance fee of up to $2 million.

However, it didn’t end there, as the Spaniard then traveled to North Carolina, where Alcaraz took on Francs Tiafoe in the Charlotte Invitational.

A busy week, and one that has left a sour taste for many, after hearing ATP stars complain about their ‘busy’ schedule throughout 2024.

Sam Querrey says ATP stars would rather ‘make money’ from exhibitions than rest in the off-season

Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast with his co-host John Isner, Sam Querrey gave his thoughts on the recent exhibitions Alcaraz played in America.

“I have two thoughts,” he said.

“One, you always hear about the players or people who complain about the off-season being too long and then players do these exhibitions – whether it’s these ones, Abu Dhabi or they used to have these massive exhibitions in Asia or India.

“I think the players as much as they talk about having massive off seasons they don’t really want to have them, as they want to go and make a bunch of money playing these exhibitions.”

He did, however, go on to say that he was a big fan of the two events Alcaraz played in the United States.

“My second thought was that I was on call [for both of them], both of them were awesome,” said Querrey.

“Maddison Square Garden, [Carlos] Alcaraz and Ben Shelton was incredible.

“Over 19.000 people.

“Both those guys are charismatic, they have smiles on their faces, they put on a show, the crowd was into it.

“The same with Charlotte, Frances Tiafoe came out in a Charlotte Hornets jersey.

“If anyone else did that they would look like an idiot but Tiafoe pulls it off.

“Both of the events were awesome but having said that I would much rather watch a US Open third-round night match on [Arthur] Ashe than one of these exhibitions.”

Fellow American Isner agreed although he was also impressed by the interest in the two events.

“I’m with you,” he said.

“I would prefer when the US Open rolls around to watch Alcaraz play a third-round match on Arthur Ashe but we know a city like New York wants the best there, so people showed up in Maddison Square Garden.

“New York City is a big place, lots of tennis fans, it’s not that surprising that it sold out.

“Charlotte on the other hand, I saw that event and I was interested to see how well that would go, but sold out again.

“I think that goes to show the star power that Carlos Alcaraz has.”

What has Carlos Alcaraz said about the tennis schedule in the past?

Plenty of the biggest names on the ATP Tour have been vocal about the tennis schedule being ‘too busy’, increasing risk of fatigue and injury.

After traveling to the Shanghai Open earlier this year, Alcaraz complained about the tennis schedule.

“The tennis schedule is so, so tight,” he said.

“We’re traveling from tournament to tournament with just one or two days before the tournament begins, so it is difficult, but we have to get used to it.

“I just did everything in a rush, we arrived here in Shanghai super late so I couldn’t sleep as much as I wanted.”

Alcaraz had just won the China Open but was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in the quarter-finals by Tomas Machac.

He was clearly tired, but how much of the 21-year-old’s fatigue is self inflicted?

• March – Played in Las Vegas ‘Netflix Slam’ V Rafael Nadal
• October – Played in Saudi Arabia’s ‘Six Kings Slam’
• December – Played in New York’s ‘Garden Cup’ V Ben Shelton
• December – Played in ‘Charlotte Invitational’ V Frances Tiafoe

The Spaniard played in four exhibition events this year, not including the Laver Cup in September, where he played four matches.

Players should not be shamed for playing one-off matches for big pay checks, after all, it is their job, and they can do as they please, but complaining about the schedule being too busy when you’re wilfully adding to your workload, doesn’t always come across too well.

Alcaraz is set to return to competitive action at the Australian Open which begins on January 12.

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