‘That was a sharp climb for Carlos Alcaraz’, says expert

The last few months have not been very easy for Carlos Alcaraz, who has had to deal with a few too many injuries. The now former world number 1 accused a knee problem after the 2022 US Open, before tearing his abs during the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000. That problem forced him to miss the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup finals in Malaga, putting an early end to his sensational season. Just before flying to Melbourne for the 2023 Australian Open, ‘Carlitos’ hurt his leg during a workout and had to miss the first Grand Slam of the season. Novak Djokovic’s ‘Down Under’ triumph saw the Spaniard lose first place in the ATP ranking after 20 weeks of reign. The 19-year-old Spaniard will be back in action on the red clay of Buenos Aires in mid-February, with the hope that there will be no further setbacks. In fact, we recall that the Murciano will have to defend the title in Miami and the semifinal in Indian Wells.

Steve Flink on Carlos Alcaraz

“It’s always fun when you’re on the way up. That was a sharp climb for Carlos Alcaraz and then suddenly he finds himself in a position to finish the year at No. 1, and he manages to do it. It was more than he could have dreamed off at the start. I am sure he would have hoped for maybe a top 5 in the world which would have been the ceiling but gets to No. 1. Now, anything less than that this year, or anything less than winning another Major it all can start playing with your mind,” Flink stressed. “I think he is a very strong-minded character, very disciplined, determined and very mature but this year is going to be a tricky year, psychologically. Going back to Miami and Madrid and the places where he succeeded and try to defend titles and then trying to see if he can do a little better than the quarters of the French Open, see if he can have a better Wimbledon and finally going back and trying to defend the US Open,” the American sports journalist explained. Speaking to Express Sport, former World No. 2 Corretja urged Alcaraz not to lose sleep over getting back to the top spot, saying that he was too young for pressure like that. “I don’t think he should be obsessed with the number one in the world,” Corretja said. “I don’t think his goal right now should be to defend that position because otherwise, it would mean something else. Not only a pressure, but also an additional weight on your shoulders that you don’t need so young, at that age.”