Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that obsessing over becoming World No. 1 was hurting his game.
“I’ve been paying attention to the rankings and to the stats, but I think it’s the wrong thing to do,” the 21-year-old Spaniard confessed after his recent match in Monte Carlo.
Alcaraz, currently ranked third in the world, has never hidden his ambition to become the greatest player in tennis history. But lately, he’s realized that fixating on the rankings was taking away from what matters most.
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“Right now, I realize that I have to just play. Because I love playing tennis, I love stepping on the court.”
His new approach seems to be working. At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Alcaraz has found his groove again, reaching the quarter-finals after convincing wins over Francisco Cerundolo and Daniel Altmaier.
The clay court transition has been smooth for the young star.
“I just felt great today,” Alcaraz told Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel after defeating Altmaier in straight sets. “It’s the first time I’m on clay, we had one week to prepare for this tournament, so I guess it is a process to just keep going every day and to keep getting better and better.”
His tournament didn’t start perfectly though. Alcaraz dropped the first set against Cerundolo 3-6 before finding another gear and dominating the next two sets 6-0, 6-1.
That ability to adjust mid-match is something Alcaraz values.
“I think it’s really important to see what’s happening, what’s going on during the match, and try to improve or change the things that are going wrong,” he explained. “I think in the first set I couldn’t play aggressively, the way I like playing. So, I knew I had to change something.”
After Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension, many thought Alcaraz might seize the opportunity to claim the top ranking. That won’t happen before the Italian returns, but Alcaraz doesn’t seem bothered.
He’s taking a completely different approach now.
“Just to play good tennis and forget about the ranking and forget about everything. I realized I had to do that, and now during the clay-court season, I’m going to try to do that, to forget about everything and just play.”
Next up, Alcaraz faces Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals, after the Frenchman pulled off a stunning upset against former champion Andrey Rublev.
With his renewed focus on simply enjoying his tennis rather than chasing rankings, Alcaraz looks ready to make a serious run on his favorite surface.
