Alcaraz puts No. 1 dream to the side for now

Carlos Alcaraz is much more concerned with winning his first career match at the Monte Carlo Masters than he is about possibly returning someday to the No. 1 ranking.

The third-ranked Spaniard laid out his thinking on Sunday with the first clay Masters of the season starting on monday; after a first-round bye, he will start as second seed against either former champion Fabio Fognini or Francisco Cerundolo.

With world No. 1 Jannik Sinner still serving out a three-month inadvertent doping sanction, Alcaraz brushes off reports that he or second-ranked Alexander Zverev should have seized top Tour status.

But Alcaraz said he just doesn’t need that kind of pressure.

 “That may have killed me in some ways,” he said. “I know I’m not able to (return to) No. 1 even if Jannik were not playing (he returns in early May).

“I’m too far from him (in ranking points). But this is now something I don’t have to think about, I can just go out and play,”

The Spaniard has only one match here, losing in the second round three years ago to Sebastian Korda. he missed the last two editions through injury.

“No Monte Carlo win does feel weird,” he said. “It feels like something here is against me. But I’ve been excited about training and I’m happy to get ready for my first match.

“I know I’m capable of doing great things on clay,” added the current Roland Garros champion.