ATP Tour

Alcaraz's big Nitto ATP Finals goal: 'Title would be a massive success'

At the age of 23, Carlos Alcaraz has already achieved so much in tennis. The Spaniard completed the Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open at the start of the season, has spent 66 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and just 12 days ago in Paris, lifted his ninth ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

However, one 'Big Title' alluding the Spaniard is the Nitto ATP Finals crown. Alcaraz reached the final in his third appearance at the event last year but lost to Jannik Sinner. Now, the World No. 3 is eager to go one step further this fortnight in Turin.

“It is a great goal,” Alcaraz said on Friday in Turin. “It is a really important goal at the start of the year. To play the best and qualify and play this tournament. For me, it would be a massive success lifting this trophy, so I am just doing great practices to be ready to play a great tournament.”

Alcaraz arrives at the prestigious year-end event on a nine-match winning streak, having lifted trophies at indoor events in Paris and Vienna. The Spaniard also triumphed at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo in October and has won 19 of his 21 matches since he returned from injury at the US Open in August, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Alcaraz lines up in the Ivan Lendl Group in Turin following Thursday’s draw and will meet Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Frances Tiafoe in the round-robin stage. The second seed has been in Turin since Wednesday practicing but has had his knee taped. Alcaraz, though, was quick to quash any injury concerns.

“I would say I have just been playing a lot of matches in not too many days and they have been physically demanding matches,” Alcaraz said. “There are some problems that came up which are normal I would say for a tennis player. Right now I am just taking care of my preparation and I am feeling good.”

At the end of last season, Alcaraz split with long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who helped guide Alcaraz to 24 tour-level titles. The former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Ferrero will coach Ben Shelton from next season and is in Turin this week.

“It is going to be weird a little bit,” Alcaraz said on seeing Ferrero in Shelton’s box in the future. “It has been a very long time not seeing him. But I am excited and looking forward to seeing him, talking to him. I think he is going to do a great job for Ben and do great things to Ben’s game and I am really excited to see him in Ben’s box, coaching him and what his improvements are going to be. I am really looking forward to seeing him… I will give him a really big hug.”

Alcaraz will face Tiafoe in his opening round-robin match, not before 2pm CET on Monday.

The Nitto ATP Finals begins on Sunday, with the final on 22 November. Be part of the action this fortnight in Turin and sign up here to ATP Unlocked for exclusive coverage in the Nitto ATP Finals Hub.