Many consider Carlos Alcaraz the name to look out for ahead of the clay season, but he dismissed the favorite tag highlighting Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
The two-time major winner has been a tremendous performer on clay since becoming a tennis player, winning many trophies each year he played. The Spaniard is 128-34 on clay all-time, which shows how good he plays on the surface.
Many consider him the favorite to do most of the damage this season, but it's not something he identifies with. Djokovic is very good on clay, so good actually that he won Roland Garros a few times, including last year.
Sinner is having a tremendous season as well, and those are some of the names Alcaraz points towards when people call him the favorite.
"Djokovic and Sinner play well on any surface. I don’t feel like the favourite at all, despite the good results I’ve had in the clay swing. They are in very good form, maybe Djokovic a little less, but at the end of the day we’re talking about Novak and he can find his 'A' game at any time. I don’t feel like the favourite at all."
Alcaraz's position is a pretty sensible one because, ultimately, what matters is what he does on the tennis court. He can be considered the favorite, but there is no benefit to that. Just because he would be expected to do well doesn't magically make his play better.
He was the favorite against Djokovic at Roland Garros last year and still got outplayed, though he dealt with some cramps as well. Whoever the favorite might be will have to earn it on the red dirt.
Declaring himself the favourite just puts unnecessary pressure on Alcaraz, and he's been trying to avoid that recently, as many of his statements about pressure prove.
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