Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a second blow in quick succession in his bid to become the world No.1. The Spaniard set his sights on moving above Novak Djokovic in the standings before the end of the year by participating in the Far East swing of the ATP Tour, but he has failed to capitalise on his recent opportunities and has been knocked out of the Shanghai Masters.
Alcaraz was knocked out of the China Open in the semi-finals last week, despite being a strong favourite to win the overall competition in Beijing. The Spaniard was beaten by Jannick Sinner, who then went on to win the tournament with a comprehensive 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) win over Daniil Medvedev.
Though matters have gone from bad to worse for Alcaraz. The 20-year-old was knocked out of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Wednesday in a significant blow to his hopes of becoming world No.1 and capitalising on Djokovic focusing on slams rather than this part of the tour.
Grigor Dimitrov was a worthy winner on the day, with the Bulgarian securing a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win to book his place in the quarter-finals of the competition. The 32-year-old revealed that he felt that his ability to ‘stay in the match’ proved vital, consequently forcing mistakes from Alcaraz.
The defeat takes Alcaraz to a record of 63-9 for the season, though he still trails Djokovic by 500 points in the ATP standings and it would take a significant turn of events for the Wimbledon winner to clinch the top spot before the end of the year.
Alcaraz has made it no secret that reclaiming the status as world No. 1 is his main priority at the moment, revealing that the task of toppling Djokovic plays on his mind every day during training. He explained: “As I have said a few times, we have a really beautiful battle to be No.1 in the world, especially after the great performance that Novak had on the last American tour.
“Right now he is No. 1, so I come here (Asian swing) with extra motivation to try to get him back and place first in the race, as well as in the rankings. Like I said, it’s something that I keep in mind every time I’m training, I think about it in every tournament.
“It is not mandatory for me to recover it either, but we have to set goals for the year. For me, the No.1 position is one of my main objectives, so in these big tournaments I am going to go for it, to try to do well to be close and recover it.”
