Carlos Alcaraz will be the third seed in a draw for the first time in two years at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, but he's not bothered by that.
The young Spaniard became the youngest world no. 1 in the history after his 2022 US Open win, and since then, he was always among the Top 2 players on the ATP Tour, most often with Novak Djokovic.
However, that changed this week after the conclusion of the 2024 Miami Open. Jannik Sinner proved to be better than everyone else once again, and he won the title in Miami.
As a result, Sinner overtook Alcaraz as the world no. 2, but the 20-year-old Spaniard isn't really bothered by losing the spot ahead of the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year.
He's the third seed, and that means that he could meet the top-seeded Novak Djokovic already prior to the final, and the draw ensured that it would be exactly like that, as the Serbian and young Spaniard were drawn in the same half.
However, speaking ahead of the tournament to Puntodebreak, Alcaraz admitted that whether he's the world no. 2 or world no. 3 doesn't matter much to him, as his main focus is on working hard to make sure he recovers the spot.
"Obviously, being number one or two is fantastic, but being second or third doesn't change much. I know that the tennis players ahead of me have those positions and I have to work to recover it, but I don't play with less pressure being two or three. I feel the same."
He will get a chance to do that already during the clay-court part of the season, and while he defends many more points than his rival Sinner, he will get a shot at reclaiming the spot, not only from the Italian, but also from the current world no. 1 Djokovic.