Striving for 'serve-bot' status, Alcaraz ready for three-peat pressure at Indian Wells

Indian Wells has long been known as Tennis Paradise. The phrase holds especially true for Carlos Alcaraz, who this year will seek to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles at the ATP Masters 1000. 

"I'm here to take that pressure," Alcaraz said of his three-peat bid. "I will try just to enjoy it. Because this tournament, every time that I come here, I enjoy so much practising, playing. Everything for me here is so easy. So all I'm thinking is to enjoy this tournament. I'm waiting the whole year just to come back here."

The Spaniard arrived in Indian Wells late Monday night and hit the golf course on Tuesday afternoon before an evening practice session. Facing the media before his first hit on the newly sped-up desert courts, Alcaraz addressed the change with the same relaxed attitude.

"I think I consider myself a player who adapts very well his game on the surfaces and all the conditions that you're playing on," he said. "I think I play great tennis anyway, even though the courts are a bit faster."

Another key adjustment this year is Alcaraz's serve, which he changed ahead of his quarter-final run at the Australian Open.

"I'm still on it, I'm still practising, I am still improving," he said of the new motion. "I'm feeling great. I'm feeling like an upgrade on the serve. So just to keep believing on the movement, on the serve, because I know that there is going to be a great serve.

"My second serve, I trust a lot. My second serve I think is a really good and solid one. The first serve could be better."

While he admitted to having ups and downs with his new delivery, Alcaraz emphasised that even a bad serving day would not affect his play from the baseline. That said, he enters Indian Wells full of confidence.

"Right now, I'm feeling great. I'm really happy about everything I'm doing with the serve, so I'm close to being a serve-bot, I guess," he added with a laugh.