Carlos Alcaraz has revealed that he is all set to start a new chapter in his career as the Spaniard returned to the winning ways in his first-ever match in Beijing Open since US Open semifinal loss against Daniil Medvedev just three weeks ago.
It is evident that Alcaraz has not taken much time to recover from the heartbreaking loss at Flushing Meadows where he was hoping to defend his title. The world No. 2 took some time off by skipping the Davis Cup in a bid to allow his body to recover that won him Wimbledon title at the All England Club a few months back.
Alcaraz has now set out his stall to claim the year-end #1 rank from Djokovic and he started that campaign with an easy win over Yannick Hanfmann of Germany in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 at the China Open. He kicked of his campaign at the Beijing hardcourts only behind ATP #1 Novak Djokovic in the ATP Live Race to Turin but could narrow the ranking gap to 315 points if he wins the title in Beijing.
“Hopefully I have a lot of years to come here to China. Creating my chapter here in China would be great for me,” said Alcaraz.
“To finally be able to come here to China and show my tennis in front of the Chinese people is something that I wanted a long time ago and I’m really happy to do it, hopefully the first of many here.
“I’m really happy to be able to win this match in straight sets. Yannick’s playing great. He’s a really dangerous player, big shots. He was playing big bombs in this match so I had to be really focussed, trying to not let him dominate the match.
“I tried to be really focused on every part of my game. I have to improve a little bit so I’m really happy to do it and have another chance to be better in the next round.”
Both Djokovic and Alcaraz have already secured the ATP Finals in Turin by big margins as #1 and #2 seeds, however, the bigger battle is for the coveted year-end #1 crown.
The 20-year-old took that title last year after the legendary Serbian missed a series of tourneys due to his decision to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19. The 24-time GS winner also missed on a couple of Masters 1000 this year because of the same reason and handed the Spaniard chance to start a cat and mouse battle for the prestigious #1 rank.
“We have really beautiful battle for the No. 1 spot after the great performance Djokovic had in the American season, let’s say. He’s the No. 1 right now,” added Alcaraz.
“I’m coming here to China with extra motivation to try to recover it in the race, of course, in the ranking. As I said, it’s something that I have in my mind every time I practice, in every tournament.
“Is not obligatory for me to recover that, but of course you have to put the goals in the year. So for me No 1 spot is one of the main goals for me.
“In these great tournaments, I’m looking to do great to be able to be close or recover that number.
“Then next year I’m looking to play the four Grand Slams. I hope to not miss any of them. I will try to do the same things that I’m doing this year.
“I could be more than happy if I won the same tournaments that I won so far of the results that I’m doing this year. That’s my goal for next year. That’s obvious.
“Right now I’m really happy with the level I’m playing, with the result I received so far. The year is not over. There are few tournaments ahead. So hopefully to end that year as good as it started.”