Carlos Alcaraz reveals he wants to be the best men’s tennis player ‘in history’
Carlos Alcaraz has added the Indian Wells title to his already decorated trophy cabinet, and the 19-year-old has revealed his goals for the future and spoke about how he compares himself to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz ended Daniil Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak to win the tournament many call the ‘fifth Grand Slam’ and leapfrogged Djokovic to return to ATP No.1.
The Spaniard has only recently comeback to the ATP tour after struggling with injuries since the end of last year, and has continued in the same form that saw him win the US Open title.
Alcaraz spoke of how he used his time on the sidelines to work on the things he could control, “While I’ve been out injured, I’ve realised a lot of things. When you miss a huge tournament like the Australian Open, you think about what you are doing wrong.”
He continued, “An injury can happen to anyone, but when I analysed the situation with my team, we concluded that it is important to do the right things off the court as well as on it, and I wasn’t always doing that 100%. I’m talking about rest, nutritional supplementation, eating well etc.”
“There were a number of things that maybe I wasn’t doing right. Through the injury, I learned that I had to get back to the routine I had previously, to get back to doing all those things right to be at my best. I think because of the injury, I’ve been doing that now and it’s no secret that, when you do things right, good results will follow.”
While Alcaraz is looking for more success and titles, he admitted that one of his main aims is to play tennis in an entertaining fashion, “I have my own identity playing. I always try to play ‘happy’ tennis. I consider myself a happy person off the court, so I try to play that way.”
“I think that nowadays, tennis is very dynamic: going up to the net, drop shots, big shots; that’s what attracts attention. I try to enjoy myself on the court and to not make everything too monotonous. I try to create, and produce rare, beautiful shots.”
He added, “At the end of my career, I would like to be remembered as a good person, a normal, natural and happy person. Playing on instinct and joy are two tenants of my game. If I don’t play on instinct and if I don’t play with joy, my tennis is not the same. I think life is better that way. That’s the most important thing of all.”
Carlitos. Is. EVERYWHERE. ??@carlosalcaraz #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/QSsGr4n5qt
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 17, 2023
Now heading into the second half of the sunshine double, Alcaraz is attempting to achieve a feat that only seven other men have done before him and try to win both Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year.
Alcaraz goes into the Floridian Masters 1000 event as the defending champion, knowing that he needs to retain the title to stay No.1, “In Miami, I’m going to have to start defending a lot of points. I think about that subconsciously because you want to be at the top of the rankings.”
The US Open champion continued, “But together with my team, we have always said that the important thing is the race to the Nitto ATP Finals. If you have a good year in the race, you will finish high in the rankings. I don’t worry too much about defending points, I just think about enjoying the tournament I am playing, and trying to do the best I can.”
“When thinking about a goal for this year, I have to win a Grand Slam… or at least try to win another Grand Slam and more Masters 1000 events. Those are big goals for me. Staying at world No. 1, you get there by winning majors and Masters 1000s, it is no secret. I will try to do my best in these kinds of tournaments.”
Alcaraz named Nadal and Djokovic as two of the people he wants to beat, but also revealed that he wants to make history in his own way.
“I want to beat Nadal and Djokovic, but I am not here to take any Grand Slams away from them or prevent either of them from being the best of all time. I am just trying to write my own history,” said the Spaniard.
“I want to win Slams. I am ambitious and my goals are big, I’m not going to lie. My dream is to be one of the best in history, to try to get somehow close to them. I know it will be very complicated – maybe even impossible – but in this world you have to think big and dream big. In the end, that is my dream today.”
Alcaraz will continue to make more history when he begins his sunshine double campaign against either Felipe Meligeni Alves or Facundo Bagnis, after receiving a bye to the second round.
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