Carlos Alcaraz admits the high expectations placed on him by some can be daunting but he is using his time on the court to help him deal with the pressure.
The 20-year-old Spaniard has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the sport where he has won two out of the last five Grand Slam tournaments he has played. He is also the youngest player in the Open Era to top the ATP rankings and has held that position for 36 weeks so far in his career. Overall, he has won 12 ATP titles with his most recent triumph occurring last year at Wimbledon.
Besides the many positives to his rise in fame, Alcaraz admits that there are also drawbacks. Trying to shut out all the attention being focused on him is easier said than done but he has found a way to do so.
“I try to stay away from all the noises probably the people are getting on you. But it’s sometimes difficult,” Alcaraz told reporters in Indian Wells. “Sometimes it’s really tough to stay away from all of that. Sometimes it’s difficult to deal with it.
“I try to enjoy my time on the court, my time on the tournament, but sometimes the bad moments come to you and you have to deal with it. Most of the time I stay focused on myself, focused on my team and try to smile all the time and making jokes outside the court that makes me stay myself.”
The world No.2 goes into this year’s Indian Wells Masters with 1000 ranking points to defend after capturing the title 12 months ago. He has defended a title on the ATP Tour twice before in Madrid and Barcelona but is yet to do so on a hard court. Furthermore, it has been more than six months since he last reached a Tour final of any kind.
“I’m coming here to defend the title,” he stated. “It’s difficult, I know. I’m here with the best tennis players in the world; some are playing great tennis this year.
“I know it’s gonna be really difficult, but I’m here to do it. I’m here to try and defend the title.”
Besides chasing after silverware, Alcaraz’s status as the world No.2 is also under threat from both Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev who could overtake him. He needs to outperform Sinner by 105 points to stay ahead of him in the rankings. Meanwhile, Medvedev can clinch the No.2 spot if he wins the title and the other two don’t make it through to the semi-final stages.
There are also concerns about Alcaraz’s current fitness after he injured his ankle whilst playing at the Rio Open. However, he remains cautiously optimistic about the situation.
“I’ve been feeling well on the practice court,” he commented. “Probably some people are thinking about my ankle, let’s see if I’m going to stay 100 percent or not, but I’m feeling better as well.
“Let’s see how the tournament’s going to go. I’m here to defend and I’m not thinking about anything else but that.”
Alcaraz will begin his Indian Wells title defence against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi later this week.