Alcaraz, stronger than ever, reappears in Toronto ready to widen the gap with Djokovic
It is enough to go back to last summer to verify the substantial change of Carlos Alcaraz. If then he had already become one of the great protagonists of the circuit, an agitator wherever his racket rested, now, just over three weeks after conquering Wimbledon passing over Novak Djokovic, we are facing a player who sports an aura almost invincible. In 2022, after losing to Jannik Sinner on London grass, he decided to play two consecutive tournaments on clay, losing consecutively against Lorenzo Musetti and Sinner again in finals in Hamburg and Umag.. Already in the Canadian Masters 1000, which was then played in Montreal, he fell from the start against Tommy Paul, after letting a match point pass, and stayed in the Cincinnati quarterfinals, against Cameron Norrie. A little later he would give the big blow by winning the United States Open and becoming the youngest number 1 in history.
More refined his calendar, Alcaraz has not played any official match since his triumph at Wimbledon. Yes, he was seen in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition tournament, to play two singles and a doubles match. The Spaniard reappears this Wednesday in Toronto and plans to play next week in Cincinnati the second Masters 1000 of the North American tour, which will close from the 28th with the title defense at Flushing Meadows. Winner last year in Miami and Madrid, and this year in Indian Wells and again in the tournament that takes place in the Caja Mágica, he will seek his fifth title in a tournament of this category, also the fifth overall of the season .
430 points advantage
Absent Djokovic, who will only be shot in Cincinnati for the US Open, Alcaraz has the possibility of widening the gap with him in the ranking. Despite having a total of 450 points deducted from the tournaments in Hamburg and Umag, he has 430 points more than Nole, 9,225 to 8,795, and could be sure to make it to the top in New York if he wins the title on Sunday.
On this tour he only defends 10 points in Canada and 180 in Ohio. The Balkan, however, starts from scratch in the two tournaments that he will play in the United States, since in 2022 he did not play them due to his refusal to get vaccinated against covid and, although he does not depend on himself, he would have options to surpass him if he is champion in Cincinnati.
Exempt in the first round, Alcaraz will debut against the winner of the match between Ben Shelton and Bernabé Zapata, which is played today. In the event of victory, and always in the field of hypothesis, he could meet Holger Rune in the quarterfinals, whom he defeated in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, and a hypothetical semifinal against Sinner, the tennis player who has proven capable of creating more difficulties for him.. They have met six times, with three wins each. The last duel, in the semifinals in Miami, was won by the Italian.