“Hardly had time” Carlos Alcaraz cribs not having time to think about goals after becoming World No.1
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Carlos Alcaraz
After winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open and becoming the youngest-ever World No.1, 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz was looking out-of-touch at the Davis Cup competition and then lost rather tamely to former top ten player David Goffin at Nur-Sultan.
The teenage sensation has since returned sharply with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory against America’s Jack Draper at the Swiss Indoors ATP 500 tournament in Basel on Monday. Alcaraz, who faces either Botic van de Zandschulp or Adrian Mannarino in the round of 16, recently spoke about how he was lost for space after winning unexpectedly and achieving so much in New York. We explore further.
“I had several tournaments after the US Open so I hardly had time to take advantage of the world number 1 spot or my first Grand Slam. Now I have new goals for the end of the season, with new tournaments, so I have to be ready for the next challenges,” Alcaraz said at the end of the match.
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Carlos Alcaraz’ coach Juan Carlos Ferrero opens up about his protege not deserving World No.1 spot with Novak Djokovic banned from US Open and 2022 Wimbledon ranking points not counting
With only 6730 points, Alcaraz’s tally at the top of the ATP rankings is one of the lowest, drawing flak for him. With 21-time major winner Novak Djokovic also absent this year for quite some time, the teen’s feat is underappreciated.
“It’s normal that some people think that Carlos doesn’t deserve this place because it’s true that Djokovic didn’t play two Grand Slams and could have won more, or not, in fact we’ll never know. But at the end of the day, I think this place is deserved especially if you win almost every game you play during the year.
“I think it’s been a very successful year. You have to respect all opinions, but I think it’s deserved,” said Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach, speaking with Puntodebreak defending his ward.
Djokovic was disallowed from playing at the 2022 Australian Open due to his decision to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19. Despite entering the country and even having a practice session at the Melbourne Park, Djokovic was deported on the eve of his first-round match.
Then, at Wimbledon this year, points were withdrawn from the tournament by the ATP as a reprimand for the All England and Lawn Tennis Club’s decision to disallow Russians and Belarusians from competing due to the Ukraine conflict.
Djokovic faced a similar ban from entering the USA which led to the Clay season being his proper start to the season. Interestingly, the Serb met Alcaraz for the first time at the 2022 Madrid Masters in the semi-finals and the local boy won the match in 3-sets to reach the final and eventually even the title.
Also Read: Novak Djokovic expresses opinion on whether Carlos Alcaraz deserves World No.1 spot
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Ashish Maggo
(191 Articles Published)