Carlos Alcaraz returns to South Florida to defend his title at the Miami Open. Alcaraz is aiming to remain at the top of the ATP Ranking and become the eighth player in history to win the Sunshine Double after winning his first Indian Wells title.
Alcaraz withdrew from the Australian Open due to a harmstring injury he suffered in training. In his first tournament at the Golden Swing in South America Alcaraz won his seventh title at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, beating second seed Cameron Norrie. One week Alcaraz beat Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry at the Rio Open in Rio de Janeiro to reach back-to-back finals as defending champion, but he lost to Norrie in the final.
At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells Alcaraz beat Tallon Griekspoor recording his 100th career match win. He has become the second fastest player to reach this milestone since John McEnroe. The Spanish player beat Felix Auger Aliassime in the quarter final and Jannik Sinner in the semifinal to reach the final. He clinched his eighth career title beating Danil Medvedev, becoming the first player to win the Masters 1000 tournament in the Californian desert without dropping a set since Roger Federer in 2017.
Alcaraz will remain at the top of the ATP Ranking if he completes the “Sunshine Double”, because he is dropping the 1000 points he won in Miami last year. Novak Djokovic will return to world number 1 if Alcaraz does not win the Miami Open title.
“I don’t feel the pressure too much. I know the things I have to do. I need to play relaxed and not mind if I lose or I play well or not. My goal is always the same. To feel comfortable on court. To enjoy playing tennis and try to have great thoughts when playing. That is why I am playing at a good level. I am enjoying every single second and playing relaxed. That is what I am thinking about on court”, said Alcaraz.
At last year’s edition of the Miami Open Alcaraz became the youngest men’s champion in tournament history. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16, Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarter final, Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinal and Casper Ruud in the final.
“I have great supporters here. I remember last year was unbelievable feeling with the crowd. There are a lot of people who speak Spanish, so I feel at home. Playing great matches against great players, it was an amazing run last year. I am really excited to come here in front of all the fans. I can’t wait”, said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz will start his campaign against either Facundo Bagnis or a qualifier before a potential clash against Andy Murray in the third round.
Alcaraz has a seasonal record of 14 wins to just 1 defeat, but he is never satisfied as he is always trying to improve his game.
“I always say you can improve everything a little bit more. You have to improve, you have to get better every day. That is why the big players, the “Big Three” for example, did throughout their careers, improving a bit every day”.
Alcaraz beat Sinner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in their first match of the season in the Indian Wells semifinal last Saturday. The Spanish player now leads 3-2 in his five head-to-head matches against his Italian rival.
Alcaraz beat Sinner 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 in their first head-to-head match in the Round of 32 of the Paris Bercy Rolex Masters. They clashed three times in 2022. Sinner beat Alcaraz twice in the fourth round at Wimbledon 6-1 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 and in the Croatian Open in Umag 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1.
In their most recent head-to-head battle Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic five-set clash by the scoreline of 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-7 (0-7) 7-5 6-3 after five hours and 15 minutes.
The rivalry between Alcaraz and Sinner has drawn comparison to that of the Big 3. The two young stars are pushing each other to be better players, just like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal did in the past seasons.
“No matter who won, I think our previous matches have been great fun for the fans, and also for us. I am going to push myself to be a better player to beat him. I think it is going to be the same for him as well. I will push him to be a better player as Djokovic, Nadal and Federer did when they were younger. I think it’s going to be a great rivalry. We are great friends outside the court”, said Alcaraz.
