Carlos Alcaraz has said that he is focusing on his ‘progress, not results’ after winning his maiden Australian Open, adding that he sees himself with ‘a lot of weaknesses’ which rivals can exploit.
Just three weeks before his comments, the Spaniard defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets to complete the Career Slam – winning all four Grand Slam events – becoming the youngest male singles player to reach the feat.
Alcaraz produced a mostly sublime level throughout the fortnight in Melbourne, which allowed him to increase his Grand Slam haul to seven.
“Obviously, I can see myself that [I have had] a lot of success so far, winning the biggest tournaments in the world,” commented Alcaraz.
“But I just see myself with weaknesses. A lot of players, I know that they’re trying to catch me up in terms of they are studying my game, they study how I play, trying to beat me, trying to challenge me.
“I have to be ready for that, and I have to see where my level is, where my tennis is. I have to try to put myself in their minds and think what they could do when playing against me.
“So that’s what I mean about saying I have to improve some things. Obviously, you cannot be lagging in the level, you just have to keep it going.”
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Alcaraz’s comments came at his pre-tournament press conference at the ATP 500 event in Doha, which takes place from February 16 – 21.
Last year marked his debut at the event, ultimately losing out to Czech Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals.
Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech will be his opening opponent at this season’s edition, with other seeded players including the likes of Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Bublik, and Andrew Rublev.
Alcaraz has won all four of his clashes with Rinderknech, including having successfully collected 10 of the 12 sets contested.
“I know how difficult every match is. Every match is different, our play is totally different,” analysed the world No 1.
“I think this draw is a really tough one for a 500 tournament. We can see the first matches how good matches that we have in the first round.
“So [I’m] just thinking about a match at a time, and let’s see how far I can go.
“Obviously, my mind is trying to go as far as I can. If it’s possible to play a final, obviously that would be great, and that’s what I’m looking for, so let’s see.
“I’m not thinking about playing or just putting myself in the final too early. I want to think day by day.”
Despite the successes through the last 12 months, including three Grand Slams and three Masters 1000 – in addition to the year-end No 1 position – Alcaraz has made clear that his goals won’t just be reflected in his results.
Instead, the Spaniard will seek to use Doha as a testing ground to ‘develop’ his game in the areas in which he ‘wants to be better’.
“Coming here, these days, my team and I, just we set up some goals for this tournament,” revealed the world No 1.
“We are not talking about results at all. It’s just more about the process to be better, still in the process to grow up.
“There are some things that I really want to be better and [I want to] develop my game in a way that I really want to show up and to pull off here in this tournament.
“That would be a really successful week for me, besides results. I [want to] see myself that I’m just doing the right things on and off the court.”
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