After capturing back-to-back Grand Slam titles and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, world number three Carlos Alcaraz said one of his key goals for the rest of the season is to finish as the top-ranked player in the world.
The 21-year-old French Open and Wimbledon champion, who lost a thrilling Olympic final to Novak Djokovic, returns to action at this week’s Cincinnati Open, where he can gain ground on the Serb and Italian Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz is 450 points behind world number one Sinner in the ATP live race to the season finale in Turin, the separate year-to-date standings that serve as a measuring stick for the year-end number one battle.
“Obviously being number one is a goal every time that I’m (behind) and the race is an important ranking for me. At the end of the year if you end the race number one, in the rankings it’s quite similar, so you’re going to end number one,” Alcaraz said.
“So I’m really focused on that. I’m focused on going to every tournament, thinking about playing great tennis, doing a good result just to get better in the race. This year, ending the year as number one is one of my main goals right now.”
Last year’s Cincinnati runner-up, Alcaraz will begin his campaign against Gael Monfils or Alexei Popyrin as he returns to hardcourt tennis for the first time since reaching the Miami quarter-finals in March.
Important tune-up event
The Cincinnati Open is an important tune-up event for the Aug 26-Sept 8 US Open.
“I’m excited to play here again. Obviously great memories from last year, reaching the final, losing a really tight and epic match (to Djokovic),” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz will compete on hard courts for the first time since he reached the quarter-finals in Miami in March.
Djokovic withdrew from Cincinnati after his Olympic triumph.
Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul lead American hopes, while former champions Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov also return to the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have fond memories in Cincinnati.
Fourth seed Medvedev won the title in 2019 and arrives holding an 18-5 hard-court record this year. Zverev, who advanced to the quarters in Montreal, triumphed in 2021 in Cincinnati.
Andrey Rublev arrives in Cincinnati having enjoyed a deep run in Montreal. The 26-year-old won an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Madrid earlier this year.
Hubert Hurkacz returned from injury in Montreal and the fifth seed will play a qualifier or Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening match in Ohio. Casper Ruud’s best result on hard courts this year was a final run in Acapulco.
Seeded seventh, he will play Felix Auger-Aliassime or a qualifier in his opening match. Auger-Aliassime defeated Ruud at the Paris Olympics earlier this month.