By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 26, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
All the world’s a stage.
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are major players in competition and culture.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz famously out-dueled Zverev in an epic Australian Open semifinal last January.
The pair reconvened hitting high notes in a rally on stage at the Vienna State Opera and later on the steps inside the historic opera house that was completed in 1869.
“It wasn’t on my bingo card, playing an opera,” a smiling Alcaraz said as the pair traded backhand volleys.
“It wasn’t on my bingo card making 10 volleys in a row,” Zverev replied continuing the rally.
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz returns to the Austrian capital for the first time since 2021, when Zverev beat him in the semifinals and went on to capture the title.
This week, Zverev is the top seed and opens against Spanish wild card Martin Landaluce. The second-seeded Alcaraz will face former Rolex Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov.
“I’m happy and proud of the way I came back,” Alcaraz said. “Hopefully, this tournament and Paris it’s going to be better and better. I’m just happy with the way I’m playing right now—confident.
“Let’s see if it’s going to be this one—this match up [in the Vienna final].”
Of course, the acoustics in the 1,709-seat Vienna State Opera are so impeccable a shared conversation between Alcaraz and Zverev picked up the Australian Open champion’s off-season plans.
“I’m going to Miami and then I think Virgin Islands, one of those islands, I don’t know which one yet,” said Alcaraz, who will also travel to Brazil to face Joao Fonseca in an exhibition event.
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