Carlos Alcaraz has his sights set on regaining the world No 1 spot from Novak Djokovic as he aims to land the French Open and Olympic title at Roland Garros this summer.
Playing in his first match since his Australian Open quarter-final exit, the Spaniard defeated qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli at the ATP 250 Argentina Open on Thursday.
The top seed is bidding to successfully defend a title for the third time in his career after retaining home crowns in Barcelona and at the Madrid Masters last season
But Alcaraz’s ultimate goal is to wrestle back top spot in the ranking from Djokovic, who is currently 600 points clear of his rival ahead of two ATP 500 events in Dubai and Acapulco before Indian Wells and Miami in March – all live on Sky Sports Tennis.
“Getting to world No 1 is my goal,” said Alcaraz. “You have to set goals yourself and I’m trying to be forward thinking to do it.
“There are a great number of players fighting for the number spot as well so it’s going to be a really good fight but hopefully I can recover the spot soon.”
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Alcaraz will also be targeting the Olympic tennis title at Roland Garros as well as the French Open crown this summer.
The Olympic tennis tournament will take place in July, a month after the year’s second Grand Slam on the same claycourts in the French capital.
“For me, it’s a dream to bring a medal to my country and winning gold is one of the greatest things that can happen to you in the world of sport,” Alcaraz said.
“This year, if you gave me a choice, I’d say that I will keep the Olympic gold, although I would like to win both. I’m not going to lie.”
The 20-year-old won the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon last year but failed to add to his Grand Slam collection last month after going out in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz admits Djokovic and Melbourne Park champion Jannik Sinner are currently sitting top of the tree.
“I think Djokovic and Sinner are the rivals to beat, there is no doubt, both for me and for everyone,” world No 2 Alcaraz added.
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