Alcaraz has already picked up 180 ranking points at the China Open after he reached the semi-final, losing to Jannik Sinner on Tuesday. And he will continue to try and make up some points on Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters, with up to 1,000 on offer across the next week.
“We are going to try to do well (in Shanghai) to be as close as possible to Djokovic, to our goal,” the Spaniard said ahead of the tournament, per AS. Alcaraz has made it no secret that regaining the position and ending the year as No 1 is his main goal, having relinquished the top spot to Djokovic after the US Open.
“We have a really beautiful battle to be No 1 in the world, especially after the great performance that Novak had on the last American tour,” he said ahead of the recent China Open in Beijing. And the quest is leaving Djokovic living rent-free in Alcaraz’s head, as he previously admitted that he thinks about surpassing the Serb all the time.
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He continued: “Right now he is No 1, so I come here with extra motivation to try to get him back and place first in the race, as well as in the rankings. Like I said, it’s something that I keep in mind every time I’m training, I think about it in every tournament.
“It is not mandatory for me to recover it either, but we have to set goals for the year. For me, the No 1 position is one of my main objectives, so in these big tournaments I am going to go for it, to try to do well to be close and recover it.”
