Carlos Alcaraz: New goals, indecent offers – that’s what’s coming to the new number one

Carlos Alcaraz has been at the top of the ATP world rankings for a little over a week. An ascent that brings with it some changes.

Late-night host Pablo Motos recently asked the 19-year-old on the program “El Hormiguero” whether he was now getting more “indecent offers” via Instagram. “Yes…”, the often shy-looking Alcaraz replied with one Laughter is also part of it when you are no longer “just” at the center of the tennis cosmos, but have more or less achieved the status of a pop star in your home country.

Alcaraz: Pressure? What pressure?

Alcaraz did not lose his modesty even after his US Open victory, which also made him the youngest number one in history. Losing is something that he rarely sees at the moment.

In the Davis Cup, the new industry leader allowed himself a slip in the duel against Félix Auger-Aliassime and Team Canada (7:6 [7:3], 4:6, 2:6). In the decisive duel with South Korea, Alcaraz was there again and led Spain with a win over Soonwoo Kwon (6: 4, 7: 6 [7:1]) as group winners in the final round.

Alcaraz wanted nothing to do with an additional backpack as number one. On the contrary: “When you’ve just become number one in the world and won an important tournament like the US Open, that gives you additional self-confidence and security,” said the Spaniard after his success in Valencia.

Alcaraz did not feel the pressure that Daniil Medvedev described as number one in the world before his first tournament last March. Also because he knew his team was behind him: “Maybe it was easier for me because I didn’t play the Davis Cup alone as number one, but had many fans and the team behind me.”

Alcaraz: The next goals have been marked out

One may believe it Alcaraz, who is on cloud nine in 2022 with five titles and a fabulous record of 52:10 victories. But the 19-year-old also knows that defending his place in the sun until the end of the year will be a mammoth task.

“We’ll see how I deal with the pressure of being number one in the world when I play in a singles tournament,” said Alcaraz, who still has a lot planned for the coming months.

After a short break in his native Spain, his plan is to play in Astana (October 3-9), Basel (October 24-30), Paris (October 31-November 6), at the ATP Finals in Torino (November 13-20) and the Davis Cup finals in Malaga (November 23-27).

“It’s clear that one of my big goals is to win the ATP Finals and also the Davis Cup,” Alcaraz recently formulated his new goals: “It would also be nice to end the year as number one in the world. If I Once I get that far, I want to work on staying up there for as long as possible.”

Medvedev enthusiastic about Alcaraz: “Just completely crazy”

Alcaraz has it in his own hands. In addition to the world rankings, the youngster, who took part in (and won) the Next Gen ATP Finals last year, also leads the Race to Turin. If he can withstand the pressure that Carlos Alcaraz will feel physically and, above all, psychologically, he can achieve these ambitious goals.

With Medvedev, one of his biggest competitors definitely believes he is capable of it – despite his young age.