Whatever happens at the end of the year, 2022 will be unforgettable for Carlos Alcaraz. It is undoubtedly the great explosion of the ATP circuit and in just six months he has placed himself in the “top 4” in the world, a step before the podium and, from there, towards the big goal he has in mind and for which he works so hard.
“My dream is to be number 1,” he promised at the end of 2021, when he had not yet reached the top of the ATP rankings. A few months later, and despite the fact that his last two finals ended in defeats, Alcaraz is number 4 and faces the American round with great enthusiasm. He has the hardest part, but he can do it.
It is not for less. The next Masters 1000 in Montreal and Cincinatti, in preparation for the fourth and final Grand Slam, the US Open, they are played on fast surfaces. On hard courts, Alcaraz has scary numbers: 12 wins out of 14 matches in 2022 Yes 32 out of 44 throughout his professional career.
All eyes are on the US Open as the jackpot. In 2021, he reached the quarter-finals, when he was still little more than a promise in the lists of future stars. After win the Miami Masters 1000 Yes reach the semi-finals in Indian Wells We cannot say that the American territory is bad there.
Accounts for being number 1
Alcaraz will make his Montreal debut against the American tommy paul or the canadian Vasek Pospisilwith a hypothetical crossing with the Russian Andrew Rublev or his “nemesis” Janik sinnerwho kicked him out Wimbledon and left it untitled in Umag, on the horizon.
Without Rafael Nadalwho will not play because he is not 100%, nor Novak Djokovicwhose refusal to be vaccinated may also prevent him from participating in the US Open, Alcaraz arrives as the second seed in the Canadian tournament, behind Daniel Medvedevworld number 1. alexander zverev He is still recovering from the injury that sidelined him. Roland Garroswhich means that two of the three who are still ahead of the Murcian will not be in Montreal.
Although there are many variables, accounts are relatively easy to express but much more complicated to do: he must win one of the two tournaments before the US Open, Montreal or Cincinnati, and reach the end in the other. In neither is he defending points (he’s a rookie in Canada and lost in the first round in Cincinnati), so winning both would make him rise like foam.
The illusion has everyone. “Everything is going well at the moment, I like the weather, I like the track, at the moment I feel very good. I saw the draw, but only the first lap. Every rival is tough, so it will be a difficult first round. I will enjoy my first time here. Every time I go to a new city or a new tournament, I really like it. It’s something new for me,” Alcaraz said in statements released by the ATP.
If he arrives as number 1 for the New York tournament, it would not only be historic, but would also mean the definitive confirmation that is needed: Spanish tennis will be in good hands when Nadal retires.
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