Carlos Alcaraz has revealed that he is always thinking about winning back the World No. 1 position from Novak Djokovic in the ATP Ranking. This revelation comes as the Spaniard prepares to compete at the China Open in Beijing.
20-year-old Alcaraz has already been ranked No. 1 in the world for a total of 36 weeks. After first succeeding to the top of the rankings in September 2022 courtesy of his victory at the US Open, he has been battling with Djokovic for the prestigious position throughout much of this season.
Most recently, Alcaraz overtook the 36-year-old on June 26, 2023, and held onto the spot for eleven weeks. In this time, he achieved a shock victory against Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon to win the second Grand Slam title of his young career.
However, after losing to Djokovic in the final of the Cincinnati Open back in August, all the Serbian player needed to do was win his opening match at the US Open to make up the points gap between them. He did this with great success before going on to achieve his record 24th Grand Slam title, securing his place as World No. 1 for at least the next couple of months.
However, Djokovic is now taking a bit of a breather after a packed summer schedule, meaning World No. 2 Alcaraz is the top seed at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing this week. Ahead of his first match against Yannick Hanfmann, he spoke of his objective to end the year as No. 1.
"Of course it is a goal. As I have said a few times, we have a really beautiful battle to be No 1 in the world, especially after the great performance that Novak had on the last American tour.
"Right now he is No 1, so I come here with extra motivation to try to get him back and place first in the race, as well as in the rankings. Like I said, it's something that I keep in mind every time I'm training, I think about it in every tournament.
"It is not mandatory for me to recover it either, but we have to set goals for the year. For me, the No 1 position is one of my main objectives, so in these big tournaments I am going to go for it, to try to do well to be close and recover it," he said.
After the China Open, Alcaraz will continue his bid to build up ranking points at the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters, where Djokovic will also be absent.
"Djokovic is the No.1 right now. I'm coming here with extra motivation to try to recover it in the Race, of course, in the ranking. It's something that I have in my mind every time that I practice, in every tournament." Carlos Alcaraz's goals are cristal clear (via @atptour)
