With time, players often make minor tweaks to their technique and equipment to adapt to the changing landscape of the sport. Tennis is no exception, and we have seen the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal using different tactics in the past. With each passing season, the pace of tennis keeps increasing. In order to cope with it, Spanish sensation, Carlos Alcaraz is set for a major change to his playing gear when he steps onto the court next year.

Earlier this week, Alcaraz’s secret plan to hit the ball harder was revealed and to do it effectively, he will change his racket next season. Alcaraz’s racket sponsor, Babolat, has reportedly sent the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion different rackets to try during the preseason. The Spaniard has used the Pure Aero 98 but his team wants Alcaraz to hit the ball harder and gain additional power in his shots.

As a result, Babolat was asked to adjust the weight of the racket head as making it slightly heavy will give Alcaraz the added advantage to increase the pace of his shots. Subsequently, Babolat sent Alcaraz different racket options with a few extra grams distributed in such a way that some rackets have the weight concentrated at the tip while some have a balanced weight. The Spaniard will experiment with different options before he goes ahead with one for the next season.

Babolat has been associated with Alcaraz since 2013 and the French firm knows the inside-out of Alcaraz’s game. Additionally, Alcaraz has been using several options suggested by Babolat under the watchful eyes of his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. The latter has kept keen attention on Alcaraz’s sensations while hitting the ball and spoke with the 4-time Grand Slam champion on several occasions.

Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time we have seen a top player making changes to the racket. The likes of Federer and Nadal also made adjustments to their playing gears during their peaks.

Carlos Alcaraz is following the path of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

Like Alcaraz, Nadal also decided to add more weight to his racket ahead of the 2017 Australian Open. The Spaniard placed lead tapes on the head of the racket to achieve greater acceleration. Subsequently, he went on to reach the Australian Open final before losing against Roger Federer in the summit clash.

Explaining this change, Nadal revealed, “They are small adjustments and details that one incorporates to improve. I added some weight on the tip of the racket to generate more spin on my shots, especially on the serve and the drive. With a little more weight, the racket moves faster and the ball acquires more speed. But it also has to be controlled. Fortunately, I have had a month and a half to train.”

Nonetheless, the racket change went on to eventually help Nadal as he won the French Open and the US Open titles that season. Alcaraz would hope for similar fortunes when he steps onto the court with a new racket next year. The Spaniard will directly play in the Australian Open, having skipped the warm-up tournaments in the lead-up to the first major tournament next year.