“I’ll do really good results,” Carlos Alcaraz wants to forget his 2023 Indian Wells victory, here’s why

With his ranking on the line unless he retains the title, Carlos Alcaraz spoke about how is he strategizing his title defense this year.

“I’ll do really good results,” Carlos Alcaraz wants to forget his 2023 Indian Wells victory, here’s why

Carlos Alcaraz (Image via IMAGO)

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz had a surprising start to his campaign at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. The defending champ was up against Matteo Arnaldi in the second round during his campaign opener and the Italian snatched the first set off him.

The Spaniard hit the reset button and dropped just one game in the remainder of the match to advance into the third round. He next faced Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime. With the World No. 31 not in his best of form, Alcaraz easily secured a 6-2, 6-3 win to move into the fourth round.

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Coming into this tie, Aliassime was leading 3-1 in their head-to-head. But Alcaraz brought out his best game to make it 2-3 and close down the gap having earlier lost the first three matches between them. The win also sees Alcaraz extend his winning streak in the tennis paradise to eight matches.

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Having made the semis in 2022 before losing to Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz has been fairly consistent in the Californian desert. While he lost to Andy Murray in the second round during his tournament debut, he has never looked back. With semis in 2022 and a title in 2023, he is certainly enjoying his time.

Nonetheless, this year’s second seed is cautious to not get distracted by these facts in his title defense. Alcaraz spoke on how he is getting prepared to retain his title as he looks to keep pressure on Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings. 

Well, I think the first thing that you have to do if you want to defend the title is you forget that you won the title last year. It's about being yourself, being at 100% every day if you want to do good results here. I'm not thinking about I have to defend the title, I have to play in the final.
Said Alcaraz in the press conference following his win over Aliassime. 
I'm just focusing on every day giving my 100% in every practice, in every match how I can be better. I think if I'm following that path, I'll do really good results.
Added the World No. 2.

Carlos Alcaraz gets a chance to settle scores in the next round

Following the win over Aliassime, Alcaraz will now take on World No. 58 Fabian Marozsan. The Hungarian is making his debut in Indian Wells and has made a good run so far. He defeated Jurij Rodionov in the first round in straight-sets. He followed it with a three-set win over Nicolas Jarry.

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz (via Imago)

In the third round, he took down Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild securing a 6-2, 6-2 win. He will now take on the defending champ and look to keep his lead in the head-to-head. The duo have clashed just once, with the match taking place in the third round of the 2023 Rome Masters.

Marozsan had won the match in straight-sets in what was a shocker to many. With title defense and negative head-to-head in line, Alcaraz will have an added motivation to reach the quarter-finals this year.

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