Exclusive: Carlos Alcaraz reveals ambitions of ending year as world No. 1 ahead of Paris Masters - ‘It’s on my mind’
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Published 31/10/2023 at 07:12 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz returns to the court on Tuesday for the first time since his Shanghai exit earlier this month. He’ll play at the Paris Masters in preparation for Turin’s ATP Finals in November, where he has hopes of pipping Novak Djokovic to the world No. 1 spot. The Spaniard is currently ranked second. “It’s on my mind,” he revealed to Eurosport when asked about his world No.1 ambitions.
'It’s on my mind' - Alcaraz on his ambitions of ending year as world No. 1
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz has hopes of clinching the top rank before the end of the year as he prepares to return to action at the Paris Masters on Tuesday.
Alcaraz was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters after a defeat to Grigor Dimitrov earlier this month and sustained foot and back injuries which forced him to pull out of the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The 20-year-old has revealed that he has recovered from the injury issues ahead of the tournament in the French capital and is ready for action after practising with current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“I’m feeling better. Obviously, I had some weeks to recover my body,” Alcaraz told Eurosport's Alize Lim.
“I got injured after Shanghai [Masters], but these days recovering was really, really helpful for me. Coming here not at 100%, but almost at 100%.
“I had high-quality practice with Novak and Casper [Ruud], so I’m getting ready.”
On his practice sessions with Djokovic, his rival for the No. 1 spot, he added: “Yeah, full [intensity], in every practice!
“I think we practised [together] once in Madrid, and in Roland-Garros as well, it was like the third or fourth time.
“No, I’m not [scared he will get used to my game], there are a lot of videos and matches, we’ve played four times, so we know each other very well.”
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Alcaraz on training with 'fantastic person' Djokovic ahead of Paris Masters
After exiting the US Open in the semi-final - which Djokovic went on to win by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final - Alcaraz slipped to second in the rankings, while the Serbian took the top spot, a position he has held ever since.
However, Alcaraz has the aim of regaining the status as the world’s top player before the end of the year.
“It’s on my mind,” he said. “I practise with a goal, I practise to be a better player and obviously, Novak is there.”
Alcaraz was unable to feature for much of the Paris Masters last year.
After beating Dimitrov in the first round, he was forced to retire from his last-eight clash with Holger Rune after he sustained an abdominal muscle injury.
The injury also forced him out of last year’s ATP Finals.
“I went [to the ATP Finals] last year but just for a day,” he said. “It was really tough for me, I realised I wasn’t able to play and stay there, but I’m really excited to go there and live the experience of playing in the ATP finals.”
On his upcoming Paris Masters campaign, he added: “I will try to forget everything that happened in the years before and I’ll try to play my best and enjoy it, and enjoy playing here.
“It’s an amazing tournament, obviously an amazing stadium as well, an amazing court.
“Let’s try to be better than last year.”
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