He is only 19 years old but acts like a veteran, oblivious to the pressure both on and off the track. Carlos Alcaraz had to win Indian Wells to be number 1 again and his racket did not tremble. Now, after triumphing in the Californian desert, he doubles down at the Miami tournament, where he must maintain his status as reigning champion to continue on the world throne.
"I don't feel too much pressure, I know what I have to do. I have to play relaxed and not focus on whether I'm losing or playing well. My goal is always the same, to feel comfortable on the court," he said upon arrival at Florida the Murcian, who last year won his first Masters 1000 at Hard Rock Stadium.
The man from El Palmar has won two titles in the three tournaments he has participated this season, in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells, and only lost in the final in Rio de Janeiro, where he suffered a grade 1 strain in his right hamstring that forced him to delete himself from the subsequent Acapulco tournament. His return to the courts could not have been better: he champion at the Tennis Garden without dropping a set.
"I want to enjoy tennis and try to think positive when I play. That's why now I'm playing at a good level. I enjoy every second and play relaxed," added Juan Carlos Ferrero's pupil. In addition to emerging victorious in Miami, to maintain the number 1 he will need to sustain this level of excellence on the clay court tour so as not to be passed by Novak Djokovic, now number 2.
Despite being his closest rival in the ranking, the Serbian is an inspiration, like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, already retired. "I always say that I can improve a little in everything. You have to improve, be better every day. It's what the great players, for example the Big Three, did in their careers. Improve a little every day," he said.
The Balkan was unable to defend his number 1 status in Indian Wells and he will not be able to recover it in Miami either as there was no vaccine against the covid, an essential requirement to enter the United States. "I have no regrets. I have learned throughout life that regrets only stop you and basically make you live in the past," Djokovic defended on CNN.
The winner of 22 Grand Slams had no qualms about congratulating Alcaraz and acknowledging that he "absolutely deserves to return to number one", a condition that the Belgrade man had previously taken from the Spaniard after winning his tenth Australian Open last January.
"I am as enthusiastic as ever, as motivated as ever by the sport, my family, my foundation, all the projects and everything I'm doing off the pitch," added an ambitious Djokovic who at 35 is still fighting with Rafael Nadal for being the most successful player in history. On this path, however, everything indicates that Alcaraz will have a lot to say. Without a last-minute setback, both tennis players will meet again in a tournament starting on April 9 in Monte Carlo, where the fight for number 1 will continue.
