Carlos Alcaraz chases third straight Indian Wells title
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Carlos Alcaraz fields questions from the media during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
PHOTO: AFP
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INDIAN WELLS – Carlos Alcaraz will take a softly-softly approach as he vies to become just the third man to win three straight titles at Indian Wells, where he could find a member of that exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, standing in his way in the quarter-finals.
“I will try not to think about it,” the Spaniard said, of his bid to match the treble feat achieved by Djokovic from 2014 to 2016 and Roger Federer from 2004 to 2006.
“I will try just to enjoy it. This tournament, every time that I come here, I enjoy so much practising, playing.
“Everything for me here is so easy.
“So I will try not to think about it, just flow and see how it’s going to be, the tournament. But it is something that for me would be great to achieve.”
Alcaraz, coming off a quarter-final defeat at the Qatar Open, is seeded second behind Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who finished runner-up at the Australian Open to Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Sinner in February accepted a belated three-month ban after testing positive a year ago for traces of clostebol, so he will not be in action this week.
Alcaraz said Sinner’s absence does not change his approach “at all”.
“Jannik’s not playing, but there are a lot of the best players in the world playing here,” he said.
“I think the draw is really open. I’m just focused on my things, on myself, and I try to play good tennis here.”
He could face a formidable quarter-final test from Djokovic, who owns five Indian Wells titles overall. The Serb leads their career head-to-head record 5-3, including a quarter-final triumph in four sets at the Australian Open.
Zverev, meanwhile, is chasing a first Indian Wells title.
In the women’s draw, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is enamoured with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, with the Belarusian believing the faster courts will benefit her powerful game.
Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and US Open, to make playing conditions more consistent.
“I love them (the courts). They’re a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?” Sabalenka said.
“It feels good so far. I’ll tell you later after my first match. I hope I’ll still like it.”
But another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change.
“I feel that it’s not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce (is) a little bit lower,” she said.
“The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it’s also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court’s still nice.”
Although the fast courts are supposed to help bigger servers, they could spell trouble for players like Alcaraz, who relies more on his creative shot-making than sheer power.
“Honestly, it’s a change that I didn’t understand when I saw it,” he said.
“It was 25 years, the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don’t know the reason why they did it.” AFP, REUTERS
