Carlos Alcaraz returns to the court on Tuesday for the first time since his Shanghai exit earlier this month. He will play at the Paris Masters in preparation for the ATP Finals in Turin in November, where he hopes to overtake Novak Djokovic as world No.1. The Spaniard is currently in second place. "It's on my mind," he revealed to Eurosport when asked about his world number one ambitions. World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who is set to play again at the Paris Masters on Tuesday, is hoping to regain the No. 1 ranking before the end of the year. Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters after losing to Grigor Dimitrov earlier this month with leg and back injuries, forcing him to withdraw from the Swiss Indoors in Basel. The 20-year-old revealed he has recovered from injury problems ahead of the tournament in the French capital and is ready for action after training with current world number one Novak. Djokovic. “I feel good. "Obviously, I had a few weeks to recover my body," Alcaraz told Eurosport's Alis Lim.
“I was injured after Shanghai [Masters], but this day's recovery really helped me. Coming here is not 100% but almost 100%. "I've trained at a high level with Novak and Kasper [Rudd], so I'm preparing." During his training sessions with his rival for the number one spot, Djokovic, he added: “Yes, absolute [intensity] in every practice! “I think we trained [together] once in Madrid and Roland-Garros, it was like the third or fourth time. "No, [I am not afraid that he will get to know my game], there are many videos and matches, we have played four times, so we know each other very well." After his US Open semi-final exit - which Djokovic won by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final - Alcaraz moved up to second in the rankings, while the Serbian topped the rankings. 1st position, a position he has held ever since.
However, Alcarez aims to regain his status as the best player in the world before the end of the year.
Alcarez missed most of the Paris Masters last year. After defeating Dimitrov in the first round, he was forced to retire from his last eight match with Holger Run due to an abdominal muscle injury. Injury ruled him out of last year's ATP Finals. "I went [to the ATP Finals] last year, but only for one day," he said. "It was very difficult for me and I realized that I can't play there and stay there, but I'm very excited to go there and enjoy the experience of playing in an ATP final." On his upcoming Paris Masters campaign, he added: “I will try to forget everything that happened in the previous years, I will try to play my best, enjoy it and play here. “It's an amazing tournament, obviously an amazing stadium, an amazing court. "Let's try to do better than last year."
Novak Djokovic knows that he's nearer the end of his career than the beginning,
He admits that he has more reasons to cut training sessions short than he used to, but in speaking with Eurosport in Paris, he revealed that coach Goran Ivanisevic is still finding new ways to motivate him. With Grand Slam singles title No. 24 already in his kit bag, the Serbian legend is now targeting No. 25. Novak Djokovic knows that he only has so many years left in his elite tennis career and is taking no shortcuts as he seeks to squeeze out every last drop of his talent, but he also knows that his evolving life gives him more and more reasons to cut gruelling training sessions short. Speaking with Eurosport, the Serbian legend admitted that his high-profile coach, Goran Ivanisevic, is still finding ne
After arriving in Paris ahead of this week's Masters tournament, Djokovic was in a light mood but admitted that he doesn't love the constant travelling as much as perhaps he once did. He said: "I'm as flawed a human being as can be. I need even more extra motivation nowadays at this later stages of my career than maybe what I needed five years ago or 10 years ago. Things are different. My life is evolving." With a busy life away from the court, including business concerns and his wife and children, the 24-time Grand Slam champion admitted that it is easy to find reasons to resent frivolous travel. Speaking about his family, he said: "It breaks my heart every time I leave them. So when I travel, when I go somewhere, I really want to win. I want to make that travel worth it." When speaking about his motivations, the conversation turned to Djokovic's coach Ivanisevic.
The Serbian joked that his coaching team has largely failed to find ways to get the best out of him.
Laughing, he said: "Goran and the rest of the team are trying to find new ways to motivate me. They haven't been succeeding much so far." Turning more serious, Djokovic admitted that Ivanisevic was an idol for him as a child, living proof that his dreams were possible. Joking again, Djokovic admitted that while he previously could swear freely but now need to be much more careful. He explained: "We have a lot of fun, we are great friends. We have a professional relationship. The problem we have, because of the success of Croatian and Serbian players in the last 30 years or so, we unfortunately have a situation where most of the umpires understand the swearing words."So we have to play around a little bit, we have to use the slang, create new words, but when you don't think about creating." Djokovic is currently promoting Lacoste branded jackets bearing the No. 24 - the number of Grand Slam titles that he has won. He was asked whether he has given any consideration to No. 25. Laughing again, he responded: "I've been instructed not to say anything."
The Serbian icon continued, calling it a "wonderful problem to have. If No. 25 comes right now in January it would be amazing. He continued on the subject of another Grand Slam title, saying: "I'm happy with 24 but people in my country they say why not go for 25, 30. I say if it was that easy, it would be great." Told that he makes winning Grand Slams look easy, Djokovic demurred. He said: "I don't know how it looks, but I know how it feels. You've really got to earn. I feel like a cat sometimes, with nine lives. Every time I play a Grand Slam, I lose one life."
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