Carlos Alcaraz aiming for Indian Wells glory with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal absent - 'I'm ready'
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ByEurosport
Updated 09/03/2023 at 07:56 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz will begin the third Indian Wells campaign of his career against qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis or wild card Brandon Holt after receiving a first-round bye. Alcaraz is one of the heavy favourites to win the ATP Masters 1000 tournament with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal not competing in California. The 19-year-old says he is injury-free and ready to compete on the 'Sunshine Swing'.
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Carlos Alcaraz insists he is “ready” for Indian Wells and has played down any injury concerns.
The 19-year-old was visibly injured in his Rio Open final defeat to Cameron Norrie on February 26 and withdrew from Acapulco the following week with a hamstring injury.
But the world No. 2 has made a swift recovery and is in the main draw for Indian Wells aiming to win his third ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz, who is the top men's seed at Indian Wells, says he is fit enough to be playing in California.
"I'm [feeling] really good right now," he said at the tournament's media day.
"Today was the first practice that I practised with some players, [played] some points.
“I feel great. I took some days off and it was really good for me. Right now I'm ready."
Should Alcaraz win Indian Wells, he would leapfrog Novak Djokovic into No. 1 in the ATP rankings. Djokovic withdrew from Indian Wells after being denied entry to the United States, while Rafael Nadal is also out as he continues to recover from injury.
Alcaraz says returning to No. 1 acts as great motivation for him heading into the Sunshine Swing.
"It's a really good goal for me," he said. "Of course playing a Masters 1000 is always tough and I really want to have a good result here. I love this tournament as well.
"For me, winning the tournament and being No. 1 again is a really good goal and I really want to go for it."
Alcaraz has not won a hard court tournament since winning the US Open in 2022. He says he cannot be considered a favourite on the surface in California.
"On hard court I think I'm a really good tennis player, so I'm going to go for it," said Alcaraz, who has not competed on the surface since the Paris Masters last November.
"I don't consider myself a favourite to win the tournament because [it has been] a long time since I played on hard court.
“Of course there are a lot of great players in this draw that have chances to win the tournament.
"I would say that I have my chances to win the tournament and I'm going to [try to] take it."
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