Carlos Alcaraz expressed his desire to take back the World No.1 ranking after an anti-climactic first-round retirement victory at the US Open.
The fight for the World No.1 ranking has been a gripping chase between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic for the last twelve months, with the top spot on the ATP Tour changing hands a total of seven times.
It was always going to be unlikely for the Spaniard to maintain his grip on the top spot, with Djokovic having as high as 2000 ranking points to potentially gain, while Alcaraz is defending the title points from last year's tournament.
Djokovic moved back into the No.1 position after beating Alexandre Muller in his opening-round match, and he now has the perfect opportunity to pull away from his rival Alcaraz, if he goes on a deep run at the US Open.
The motivation and incentive to stay as the World's No.1 player is something that Alcaraz is very passionate about. After winning his first-round match, he opened up about just how important being the best player in the world is to him.
"Well, right now it is a goal for me honestly. I said before that we are having a really good battle for the No.1, Novak and I."
The most telling part of Alcaraz's press conference was the warning signs he directed to Djokovic about his determination to get the World No.1 spot back sooner rather than later.
"When the tournament is over, I will try to recover as soon as possible. That's my goal. I am working for that. The season has a lot of tournaments until the year is over. I'll try to recover before the tournament end, before the year end."
It feels like Alcaraz will do everything in his power to be back at No.1, and if he sticks to a loaded schedule between now and the end of the season, it could be a really enticing conclusion to the season.
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