LOS ANGELES – Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz can replace Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings with a victory at the ATP Indian Wells Masters, and the 19-year-old insists that he will give it all that he has got.

“I’m gonna go for it,” the Spaniard said on Wednesday as first-round matches got under way.

He is chasing a third prestigious Masters 1000 title, and if he is successful, he would be just the second player, after compatriot Rafael Nadal, to bag three as a teenager.

Alcaraz has a first-round bye, and he will not be in action until Saturday against either American Brandon Holt or Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The young star will face stiff opposition in the California desert from former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who rolls into Indian Wells having won three straight tournaments in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.

Some gloss is gone with Djokovic, who won a 22nd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, absent because of US restrictions on non-citizens who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Injury forced Nadal out, but eight of the top 10 men in the world are here, including third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas – runner-up to Djokovic in Melbourne – and fourth-ranked Casper Ruud.

Defending champion Taylor Fritz of the United States is seeded fourth ahead of Medvedev.

“Of course there’s a lot of great players in this draw who have a chance to win the tournament, but I say that I have my chances to win the tournament,” Alcaraz added.

“For me winning the tournament and being No. 1 again is a really good goal.”

Alcaraz also downplayed any lingering injury fears after pulling out of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco last week with a hamstring strain.

He had been clearly hindered in falling to Cameron Norrie in the Rio Open on Feb 26, although he had beaten Norrie seven days earlier in the final at Buenos Aires.

Alcaraz’s South American run followed a near four-month injury layoff, during which he missed the Paris Masters with an abdominal tear and the Australian Open with a hamstring injury.

However, he said he was not overly concerned about the spate of injuries.

“I’m not worried about it at all,” he said, adding that he thought it was largely a matter of “bad luck”.

“I’m doing the right things off the court. I’m doing great work and I just had bad luck sometimes.”

Tsitsipas was another player who withdrew from Acapulco, with the Greek battling a shoulder injury.

The 24-year-old, unlike Alcaraz, is not expecting too much at Indian Wells, saying that his priority is “getting my body ready and fixed for the clay-court swing”.

“I’m still in recovery,” he said.

“I haven’t said it a lot of times in my career, but I don’t think I will be capable of going deep.

“It’s a very unfortunate injury because I had a very good, strong start to the year.”

Tsitsipas also has a first-round bye and is scheduled to open his campaign against Australian Jordan Thompson on Saturday. AFP