What does Carlos Alcaraz need to recover the world No. 1 spot?

After struggling for quite a few months to get to a final and win a title, Carlos Alcaraz is again in the spotlight after reigning supreme at Indian Wells again.

The two-time Grand Slam event champion seems to have recovered his best version at Tennis Paradise, where he defended last year’s title by defeating the same opponent, Daniil Medvedev, also in straight sets.

Now Alcaraz will be looking to chase the ‘Sunshine Double’ by winning the title also in Miami. With his victory in the Indian Wells final, the 20-year-old player became the second player to win five Masters 1000 titles before turning 21, with fellow countryman Rafael Nadal being the other.

Alcaraz enjoys playing at Indian Wells, as he found his best form when competing in the Californian event. He managed to stop Jannik Sinner’s perfect start to the season, as the Australian Open champion had recorded 16 consecutive wins with no losses.

Alcaraz’s next objective: taking the No. 1 spot from Djokovic

Alcaraz is a very competitive player, as he has said on numerous occasions in the past, and besides trying to go all the way in Miami and lift the 14th ATP title of his career, he will also try to get back to the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings.

The Murcia-bred talent will have the chance in Miami to shorten distances with the Serb. Alcaraz keeps sitting second in the standings with 8,805 points, while Djokovic still has 9,725, a 920-point difference.

The 24-time major winner announced two days ago that he wouldn’t be competing in Miami, as he wants to spend more time with his family and probably feels like he needs some time off to get back stronger after a bad start to the new campaign. It seems a good move from the Serb, as he won’t be defending any points there. He didn’t feature in the tournament last year after being denied entry to the US for not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Carlitos got to the semifinals in 2023, so he will defend 360 points in the upcoming days. If he reaches the final, which would translate into 650 points, or wins the event, the young star would get very close to Djokovic in the rankings.

If that happened, Alcaraz could become the world No. 1 in the first Masters 1000 tournament played on clay, the Monte Carlo Masters, as he didn’t take part in it last year, and he has proven to enjoy playing also on this surface. He could win 1,000 points if he ended up lifting the title, so everything will depend on how far Carlos and Nole can get in the European event.