Talking to the media ahead of his Cincinnati Masters first match, Carlos Alcaraz opened up on what he considers his primary objective. While Novak Djokovic is prioritizing Grand Slam titles at the tail end of his career, Alcaraz is eyeing the top spot in men’s tennis alongside vying for the biggest honors. The race for the top rank is very much on as both the players look to make the most of the American swing of the season and end the year at the summit of men’s tennis.
Alcaraz also admitted to enjoying the battle with Djokovic, someone he considers a legend of the game. Moreover, he believes he is the main rival for the Serbian too. And after a disappointing end to his campaign in Canada, Alcaraz is looking to get himself a cushion by winning both the Cincinnati Masters as well as defending his US Open title.
Carlos Alcaraz is confident of thwarting Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz currently stands at the top of the pile with 9,395 points, a decent 600 points ahead of his veteran rival. However, Djokovic is stepping on American soil after a two year gap, meaning he is defending no points at Cincinnati or US Open, giving him a bit of an edge to surpass the Spaniard.
Alcaraz missed the opportunity to put a bit more daylight between him and the Serbian at the Rogers Cup, losing to Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals. Despite knowing that Djokovic could very easily regain the top rank from him, Alcaraz is confident in his ability to do the same. In fact, he is enjoying the battle against the ‘legend’ of the sport.
“You have to put goals to yourself during the season, in every tournament. And for me right now the main goal is to stay in the top spot and if I lose it, try to recover it as fast as I can. It’s something that helped me a lot to show my best level in the big tournaments.”
Alcaraz wants to enjoy his battle with Djokovic
Alcaraz is not just confident in his ability to give Djokovic a good fight for the top rank he is also very much in the mood to enjoy this tussle. He labeled the Serb as a ‘one of the legends from our sport’ and iterated that he believes he is the ‘main opponent’ for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
“I like those battles. I like to know that I can lose, and I can recover it at the same time. Of course, you have to enjoy when the battle is against one of the legends from our sport, against Novak. I feel that I’m [the] main opponent for him. For me, it’s something crazy, and I’m trying to enjoy [it].”
The Wimbledon champion will take on the winner of the match between American wild card entrant John Isner and Australian qualifier Jordan Thompson. But the one that catches the eye is the potential match up with his Toronto vanquisher Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard also has the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Casper Ruud in his half of the draw.
Novak Djokovic has been handed something of a nightmare draw with names like the Rogers Cup champion Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev waiting to test themselves against the Serb.
