After his defeat in the men’s singles final at the Olympic Games in Paris, Carlos Alcaraz has set himself the goal of finishing 2024 as the highest-ranked player in the ATP men’s singles rankings.
Alcaraz lost the gold medal match against 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic 7:6(3), 7:6(2) at the Olympic Games in Paris, missing by just a few centimeters the chance to add another golden feather to his glorious career.
Alcaraz is ranked number three in the world and has a realistic chance of making it to the top if he maintains his convincing form.
“Of course, my goal is always to be number one when I’m (back) and the race is an important placing for me. At the end of the year, if you finish the race as number one, it’s pretty similar in the rankings, so you’ll finish as number one,” Alcaraz was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“So I’m really focused on that. I’m focused on going to every tournament and thinking about playing great tennis, getting a good result to get better in the race. Finishing this year as number one is one of my main goals right now.”
Alcaraz will next be seen in action at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, where he will likely open his campaign against either Gael Monfils or Alexei Popyrin.
The Cincinnati Open will be his first time on hard court since reaching the quarterfinals in Miami in March. Alcaraz is keen to do well in Cincinnati as it will be good preparation for the US Open.
“I’m happy to play here again. Of course I have great memories from last year when I reached the final and lost a really close and epic match (against Djokovic),” said Alcaraz.
Remarkably, Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open after his historic gold medal win at the Olympic Games.
