Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that the pressure he will face at the Monte Carlo Masters will not be changed regardless of the fact that he has been upended by Jannik Sinner in the ATP leaderboard.
Having kicked off his 2024 campaign as World No. 2, the 20-year-old has now been usurped by his Italian rival and 2024 Australian Open champion and Rotterdam and Miami Open titlist Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz is the only man to defeat the 22-year-old Italian this season as he defeated the latter in a blockbuster 3-set semifinal. However, this was Spaniard’s first title since winning the Wimbledon in 2023 and he has gone one down to sit at #3 in the ATP rankings.
While that is by no means a sky fall, it does mean that he has been drawn in the same half as Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. Alcaraz could still regain the World No. 2 rank by recording a strong run at the first Clay Masters 1000 event of the year, considering Sinner has to defend points all the way to semis.
But despite being handed a nightmare draw, the Murcia-native asserted that there would be no change in his expectations ahead of the tournament.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion said: “Being No 1 or No 2 is great, but just one position down does not change too much.
“I know the players in front of me deserve this position so I have to work to recover this. I don’t play with different pressure being No 2 or No 3.”
Clay has been the most cherished surface for the hard hitting Spaniard in terms of the number of titles won as he bagged 7 of his 13 ATP titles on the red dirt.
However, he has yet to prove himself at Monte Carlo where he pulled out of the event twice and lost his only match against Sebastian Korda in 2022. Alcaraz believes it will not take him too long to settle on the hunting ground that has remained tricky for him so far.
“I had a few days off after Miami and started playing on clay a little bit,” added the Spaniard.
“I don’t take too many days to play at my best on the surface, so the practice I have done on clay was very good, so hopefully I start the tournament in a good way.
“I am really happy to be here in Monte-Carlo. It is a really beautiful tournament. I watched this tournament many times since I was a little kid.
I just played once. It didn’t go well in 2022 but I am really excited to start the tournament here and see how it is going to be. I am really happy about it.
“Hopefully I [have] a good run here, make the final rounds.”