Carlos Alcaraz adamant on chasing down Novak Djokovic before end of season, claims defeat against Jannik Sinner changes nothing

Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-1 in the semifinal of the 2023 China Open.

Carlos Alcaraz adamant on chasing down Novak Djokovic before end of season, claims defeat against Jannik Sinner changes nothing

Jannik Sinner (L), Carlos Alcaraz (M), Novak Djokovic (R) (Sources: US Open, ATP Tour, The National)

Carlos Alcaraz suffered a disappointing defeat against Jannik Sinner in the semi-final of the ongoing China Open and has thus been eliminated from the tournament. There were some rumors of him not being in his best shape in the China Open but the Spaniard gave no excuses. However, he said that his loss against Jannik Sinner is insignificant and replacing Novak Djokovic as the World No. 1 remains his main goal. 

“This defeat changes nothing, the objective is the same, to get as close as possible to Djokovic. Regarding certain physical problems, it’s nothing, it had no influence on my week, I was able to play to 100% of my abilities,” Carlos Alcaraz said after the match. 

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Carlos Alcaraz has seemed to have lost his touch after his tragic loss against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final of the US Open. He lost in straight sets against Jannik Sinner in the China Open semi-final which is very uncharacteristic of him. Moreover, the Spaniard lost the second set 6-1 which was shocking. Sinner beat Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-1 to make it to the final where he now faces Daniil Medvedev. 

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Alcaraz defeated Yannick Hanfmann in the first round, Lorenzo Musetti in the second round and Casper Ruud in the third round to reach the semi-finals where he ultimately got eliminated. The World No. 2 will now shift his focus to the Shanghai Masters, which has already kicked off in the meantime. He is the first seed in the Shanghai Masters and will start his campaign in the tournament against the winner of the match between Portugal’s Borges and the Habs Barrere. 

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Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic’s battle for the World No. 1 spot

The never-ending to-and-fro battle for the World No. 1 rank between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz has been going on for quite some time now. In the 2023 season, Carlos Alcaraz ousted Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon Open final, while the Serbian won the other three Grand Slams. 

Novak Djokovic (L), Carlos Alcaraz (R) (Sources: ZAWYA, India Today)
Novak Djokovic (L), Carlos Alcaraz (R) (Sources: ZAWYA, India Today)

After winning the 2023 Wimbledon Open, Alcaraz was the World No. 1 for a short while. However, the Serb then defeated the youngster in the Cincinnati Open final and then went on to win the 2023 US Open, following which he replaced Alcaraz as the World No. 1. The 20-year-old has announced that his main goal right now is to win his throne back. 

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