"I don't blame Carlos Alcaraz" - Tennis journalist defends Spaniard after his controversial withdrawal from 'absolute disaster' Shanghai Masters

Catherine Whitaker, co-host of The Tennis Podcast, has defended Carlos Alcaraz's decision to withdraw from the 2025 Shanghai Masters.

The Spaniard pulled out of the two-week Masters 1000 event due to an ankle injury he had sustained in his opening match in Tokyo the previous week. Alcaraz was hampered by the injury throughout the tournament but still managed to win the title, defeating Taylor Fritz in the final.

Whitaker believed that the ATP was responsible for its flawed financial structure and the scheduling of Masters 1000 events. She suggested that Alcaraz had already received a bigger pay cheque to compete in events leading up to the Shanghai Masters and that his decision to skip the tournament was not surprising.

"The ATP have created a system where the main incentive to play these 1000s really is financial now," Whitaker said. "Carlos Alcaraz doesn't need to worry about that, because he can get far bigger financial incentive elsewhere. And I don't blame him, because I think these two weeks-long 1000s are an absolute disaster."

Whitaker highlighted the massive appearance fee being awarded to players by tournament organisers and suggested that the Shanghai Masters missed out by offering a less competitive structure this year.

"He's played the Laver Cup, got an appearance fee, massive. He's played Tokyo, don't know the number, but he got a massive appearance fee, bigger than whatever Beijing were offering. He's going to play the Six Kings Slam, and he's going to miss Shanghai, which in theory should've been the biggest and most heavily incentivized tournament in amongst those."

The Brit also pointed out that Alcaraz didn’t break any rules by pulling out of Shanghai and won’t lose ground in the rankings thanks to his strong results this year.

"I don't blame him personally. It's clear that if you're doing well enough at Slams, and if you're winning a couple of them a year as Alcaraz and Sinner are, your ranking is going to take care of itself. So Carlos Alcaraz is kind of going like, OK, if those are the rules of the game, I'm going to play by those rules," she concluded.

The Tennis Podcast was launched in 2012 and has featured former tennis players, including Andy Murray, Chris Evert, and Marion Bartoli.

Carlos Alcaraz secures $1.5 million for competing in the Six Kings Slam

Alcaraz at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open - Day 7 - Source: Getty

The Six Kings Slam is back with another exciting edition this year. The popular exhibition event will offer $13.5 million in prize money this year.

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Taylor Fritz have signed up for the event, with each player guaranteed $1.5 million for participating. The winner of the tournament will receive an additional $4.5 million.

The Six Kings Slam will begin on Oct. 15, 2025.