“After becoming No. 1 I had to set new goals”: Alcaraz looking for further improvement on return to action in Buenos Aires

Carlos Alcaraz will play his first match of the season at the Argentina Open this week.

First seed Carlos Alcaraz will face the second round of the Argentina Open this week, against the winner of the match between Laslo Djere and Fabio Fognini. The Spaniard arrived in the South American country a few days ago and spoke with the media prior to his debut.

“It’ll be my first tournament since I picked up the injury in Paris,” said the 19-year-old player. “It’s been four months since then. But I always arrive thinking about winning and wanting to win, even though it won’t be easy after such a long time without competing.”

As explained, he arrived several days in advance to prepare the championship well, since the rest of the players in the draw have been playing the tournament for several weeks.

“That’s why I’ve come a few days early, to train with really good players, gradually improve and to be able to start the tournament as well as possible,"

Alcaraz traveled with his brother, father and uncle, who will be supporting the former world No. 1 this week:

“I have a great time with them. At the end of the day, the time on court is two or three hours a day. The rest of the time you have to do things you enjoy, that make you feel good so that you can do as well as possible in the tournament. They come to support me, but also to bring that part of ‘home’, which is also very important.”

The Spaniard won 5 trophies last year, with two ATP 500, two Master 1000 and the Grand Slam obtained in his US Open performance. Looking back on his achievements in 2022 he said:

“I achieved my dream, my goal, very quickly. Practically in just a year. I dealt with it as naturally as possible. After becoming No. 1, I had to set new goals, new things for the long term, to continue to enjoy myself, continue to improve, because I’m very young and I have a lot of things to improve, despite being the No. 1. You have to keep training and looking forward.”

He was asked about the things he has to improve: "I think I can improve everything in terms of my game, physical condition and mentality," and added: "Little by little, my team will take those small steps to be even better."

“Rafa, Roger and Djokovic, when they were young, they were so good, but as time has gone by, they’ve improved," he added. This is the basis of his motivation from now on.”

“Achieving my dream very quickly caught me by surprise, so to speak. Now I’m used to it, I have a goal, I know where I want to get to, what I want to be, and that is the most important thing.”