It is never enough and the higher you go, the more difficult it is to settle at the top. Carlos Alcaraz He has explored limits that seemed unfeasible for someone his age and he is aware of the complex challenge he will have to face in this next campaign. Located at number 1, with all the media spotlights on him, dragging physical problems and knowing that both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will want to re-impose his authority in a Grand Slam, like the Open the Australia 2023. This is how the start of the year is presented for the Murcian, in need of confidence but, above all, with the obligation to flee the media noise that can be generated around any defeat and the anxiety that this can generate. He is perfectly advised at all levels, it is assumed that he may have difficulties starting, but a competitor of his level will never put on the band-aid before suffering the injury and is more dangerous than ever when least expected.
Alcaraz is assured to start the Australian Open 2023 as world number 1
The recovery period from his complex abdominal injury is very tight to return to full performance in Melbourne, but it is a good sign that he was able to appear in Abu Dhabi, no matter how low his competitive level may have been. One of the great advantages that Carlitos plays with is that he does not need to push himself too much due to his validity at number 1. He can take things easy, without competing in any official tournament prior to the Australian Grand Slam and seeking to gain rhythm in the display of I agree, without this endangering his permanence at the top. You are assured of entering the Open the Australia 2023 as number 1 in the world and only 90 points of the 6,820 that appear in his private box, will be put into play during the first month of the year.
They correspond to the third round that he reached last year in this event, which he reached in conditions quite comparable to the current ones. Alcaraz had hatched at the 2020 US Open, reaching the quarterfinals, suffered an injury and was able to play well through the last stretch of the season, finishing very late with the title at the NextGen ATP Finals. It was necessary to stop for a few weeks to recover from the physical and mental efforts, he decided to go to Melbourne without playing any previous event and he assumed that perhaps he was not in the dreamed shape for a tournament of this magnitude, but only a great Berrettini could beat him, resorting to the supertiebreak of the fifth sleeve. He performed above what was expected even from him and his environment, which is a constant in a competitor of his caliber.
The Spaniard only defends 90 ATP ranking points in the entire month of January
And it is that if something characterizes the Murcian it is his ability to grow on the big stages. It is worth remembering how doubts abounded around him this summer, when Tommy Paul and Cameron Norrie managed to prevail over him in Canada and Cincinnati, respectively. Part of the general public proclaimed to the four winds that the Murcian was accusing the pressure and that his first half of the year was not going to have continuity in New York. What happened next we all know.
Right now, Carlos Alcaraz he is in a process that, sooner or later, will lead him to his best tennis. Maybe the stop Open the Australia 2023 It may be too early in the schedule, but it’s sure to be pulling out his entire arsenal of champion and legend-in-the-making intangibles to elevate his game. Work, patience, relativization of results, medium-term vision and distance from catastrophic opinions are the basic ingredients for the Murcian to feel competitive again and present his credentials to fight for glory.
