"I am realizing": Carlos Alcaraz opens up about importance of 'enjoying' tennis, admits difficulty in dealing with pressure

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has revealed that he is starting to understand the importance of ‘enjoying’ the sport. The 23-year-old is regarded as one of the best players currently playing men’s tennis in the singles category, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz has been going through a rough patch, according to his high standards. The young Spaniard was given a great chance to replace Sinner at the top of the ATP rankings table after the Italian tennis player agreed to a three-month suspension with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for two positive dope tests in March last year.

However, a series of disappointing results has ended Alcaraz’s hopes of reclaiming the top spot before Sinner returns to the court in May later this year. The four-time Grand Slam winner, who is now set to feature in the Monte-Carlo Masters, where his first encounter will be against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, has recently spoken to Sky Sports, where he admitted that it has been difficult for him to cope with the pressure. Alcaraz also said that he feels ‘lucky’ to have people around him who make him feel that he is still good enough to secure big wins. The reigning world number three also believes he is now understanding the importance of ‘enjoying’ the sport.

“Well sometimes its difficult to deal with that [pressure] because I mean you can feel like you are not good enough for what you achieve,” he said. “It’s a true prize or something. So are you actually stay strong mentally and believe in yourself all the time. But every week I am just lucky to have you know, the people that are around to remind me you know that I am good. You know I mean still like its still good. So I am realizing that tennis for me is just a game and I had to enjoy and then keep going enjoying it. So that’s really important thing about.”