Carlos Alcaraz moved to side Court for China Open, Jessica Pegula headlines Center Stage

The China Open schedule confirmed that Carlos Alcaraz will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on the second most important court. While Alcaraz is scheduled to play around 3 pm local time at the Lotus Court, the Central Court will host second seed Jessica Pegula against Diane Parry.

Alcaraz had played on Center Court in his last tournaments consecutively since the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where the organization decided to send Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev to Center Court, while the Spaniard played on the second court in his win against Tommy Paul.

The high demand for Alcaraz’s matches has meant he has played on the main stadium in 50 of his 52 matches this season. The Center Court Capital Group Diamond has a capacity of 15,000 people, while the Lotus Court holds around 10,000 spectators.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion recently commented on the increasing number of matches and tournaments leading to constant player injuries: “A lot of players say that it’s really tight and a lot of tournaments during the whole year,” he said.

“I’m the kind of player who thinks there are a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments and probably during the next few years there will be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments,” the world No. 3 added. “So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now, a lot of injuries are showing up because of the ball, because of the calendar, because of a lot of things."

“So probably at some point, a lot of good players are going to miss many tournaments because of that, because they have to think about their bodies, they have to take care of their health,” Carlos Alcaraz concluded.