The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcarazcurrently world number two and first seed in China Opendeclared today that his presence on the tour of the Asian giant is a “extra motivation” in fighting the Serbian Novak Djokovicabsent in Beijing and Shanghaito finish 2023 at the top of the ranking ATP.
“I came here with extra motivation to try to close the gap in the standings. Like I said, it’s on my mind every time I train, every tournament”emphasized the Murcian tennis player in the press conference before the start of the tournament.
However, Alcaraz wants to make it clear that for him this is not the case “forced” get number one back, “But obviously you have to set a series of goals throughout the year.”
With this season not yet over, the Murcian declared that next year he “wants to play four Grand Slams” and “win at least the same” when he wins in 2023.
The student of Juan Carlos Ferrero arrived for the first time in China, a part of the circuit he felt “was lost”, after a three-year absence due to anti-pandemic measures imposed by the Asian giant until last January.
“It seems different, like something is missing. I will finally make it. (…) I have always wanted to come here and play in front of the Chinese public and feel what they told me the players felt, which is a lot of tennis”insisted the Spaniard.
The China Open, held in the capital, an ATP 500 competition, will hold the men’s tournament from September 26 to October 8, after a four-year break since its last edition in 2019 due to measures against the coronavirus pandemic.
Alcaraz will debut on September 29
Alcaraz’s debut will take place on Friday, September 29 against an opponent yet to be determined from the previous stage, and if he reaches the final as seeded, he will face the Russian Daniil Medvedev (2), the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) or the German Alexander Zverev (8).
Source: La Verdad
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