Carlos Alcaraz has a goal he hopes to achieve before the end of 2023 — regaining his No. 1 ranking.
Alcaraz still remains the No. 1 which he's held since June 26 prior to his Wimbledon victory. However, that will change once the US Open concludes as Novak Djokovic's opening round win over Alexandre Muller was enough for him to overtake the Spaniard.
It is the seventh time the pair have played hot potato with the No. 1 ranking in 2023.
And with Djokovic defeating Bernabe Zapata Miralles on Wednesday, the Serbian superstar now boasts a 70-point lead over Alcaraz in the ATP rankings. Even if Alcaraz were to win a second US Open title in a row, he could be as many as 1,180 points behind Djokovic if the latter were to finish the tournament as a runner up.
That is why Alcaraz plans on winning back the No. 1 ranking from the 23-time Grand Slam winner and he hopes to do it before the end of the season.
“Right now, it’s a goal for me,” Alcaraz said of regaining the No. 1 ranking following his opening-round win over Dominik Koepfer (via The Tennis Letter). “I said before that Novak and I are having a really good battle for No. 1. I knew he’d recover No. 1 after US Open. When the tournament is over, I’ll try to recover it as soon as possible.
“That’s my goal. I’m working for that. I’ll try to recover it before the year ends.”
The good news for the 20-year-old is he has opportunities to regain the ranking as he stands to earn points from events in Astana, Basel and Paris.
But in order to give himself the best chance of recovering the No. 1 ranking, it's imperative that he successfully defends his US Open title so that he not only keeps his 2,000 points from last year, but also doesn't see Djokovic increase his lead any further.
But all that said, Carlos Alcaraz revealed he feels no pressure to defend his US Open crown — he's only focused on playing at the same level that he did in 2022.
“I’m not thinking about defending the title,” he added. “I’m not thinking that I was the champion last year. I just focus on trying to recover the level I played last year.
“I try to put aside the pressure people put on me about being defending champion.”