MADRID, 14 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz confessed this Sunday in Cincinnati that his “main objective” right now is to defend the number one in the world, in a “battle” with the Serbian Novak Djokovic that he thinks he will “enjoy” and that he continues this week in the United States.
“I like these battles. I like to know that I can lose and I can win it back at the same time. It is clear that you have to enjoy when the battle is against one of the legends of our sport, against Novak. I feel that I am his main rival. For me, it’s crazy, and I’m trying to enjoy it,” he said.
The Murcian continues his calendar in the seventh Masters 1000 of the season, the one in Cincy with the presence of a Djokovic who was not in Toronto, after losing in the quarterfinals in Canada with the American Tommy Paul. “You have to set goals during the season, in each tournament. And for me right now the main objective is to stay at the top and if I lose, try to recover it as quickly as I can. It’s something that has helped me a lot to show my best level in the big tournaments,” he said.
Alcaraz could guarantee to stay at the top of the rankings if he can reach the final round in Ohio, but the Wimbledon champion knows he will have to improve after his performance in Canada. “I did not have a good week, I have many things to improve in this tournament,” he said at a press conference.
“Looking back at last year, I lost in the first round in Montreal, then I made the quarterfinals in Cincinnati and then I won the US Open. I have to get over that week I had in Toronto, try to play better and do the things that I did wrong in Toronto better”, added after a first training in Cincy.