Carlos Alcaraz lost the top spot in the world rankings to Novak Djokovic during a nearly four-month absence, but the Spaniard says he is determined to regain it when he returns to the court later on Wednesday at the Argentina Open.
After winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September, Alcaraz rose to the top of the ATP rankings. However, the 19-year-old had to retire from the Paris Masters in November due to an abdominal muscle tear. Alcaraz spent 20 weeks at the top before Djokovic’s victory at the Australian Open, which the Spaniard was forced to miss due to injury, knocked him down to No. 2 in January.
Carlos Alcaraz is currently in Buenos Aires, where he will play the first tournament of the season “It has been a long time (I spent) at No 1. Now it’s a goal for me to recover No 1 and try to do my best in these tournaments to be back on that number. I’m looking for that.”
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
WLWLLWLWWW Ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 4th of November 2022 when he had to retire when playing against world no.9 Holger Rune in the quarter and the scoreline was 6-3 6-6 .
At the moment, during this season the Spaniard has managed to achieve an overall 57-13 match record.
He is also scheduled to play in Acapulco (Abierto Mexicano Telcel) after Rio De Janeiro. The main draw will start on the 20th of February.
Novak Djokovic in 2023
LWWWWWWLWW Currently the world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 29th of January when he beat world no.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the final of the Australian Open to win his 93rd career title.
Currently, during this year Djokovic has achieved a 12-0 win-loss record. Djokovic conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.
Djokovic has scheduled to compete next in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 27th of February.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic squared off just 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Alcaraz. When they played, Carlos Alcaraz won 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) in the semifinal in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) in May 2022.
Here the video highlights.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
