Sawt Falasteen - 'Feeling better' Alcaraz eyes title repeat at Indian Wells

Alcaraz, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final in the California desert a year ago, left no doubt Wednesday as to his 2024 intentions.

"I'm coming here to defend," the 20-year-old said. "It's difficult, I know. There are the best tennis players in the world, some of them played great tennis this year.

"It's going to be very difficult, but I'm here to do it."

Alcaraz hasn't won a title since his stunning Wimbledon triumph over Novak Djokovic last year.

He slumped to a four-set defeat by Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open quarter-finals and in his first tournament back was bounced in the semi-finals at Buenos Aires last month.

That was followed by an ankle injury that saw him withdraw minutes into his first-round match at Rio de Janeiro.

"Probably some people are thinking about my ankle, see if I'm going to say 100% or not," he said. "But I'm feeling better as well."

Alcaraz gave the ankle a test run at the weekend in Las Vegas, where he beat his tennis idol Rafael Nadal in an exhibition.

"I'm here to defend and not thinking about anything else than that," said Alcaraz, who routed Medvedev in last year's final to return to the top of the world rankings.

Since then, Djokovic has regained number one, and the Serb is back at Indian Wells for the first time since 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 and Djokovic couldn't play in 2021-23 because of US travel restrictions on those not vaccinated for Covid.

Djokovic is chasing a record-setting sixth Indian Wells crown. With victories in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016 he shares the record for most titles with Roger Federer.

Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner is edging closer to Alcaraz's number two ranking.

The always-smiling Spaniard admitted that the competition at the top and the high profile he has gained can be tough to manage.

"I try not to think too much about success, I want to stay away from the noise," he said.

"But it can be difficult to deal with. I try to enjoy my time on court. Sometimes the bad moments can come to you, but I try to focus on myself and my team.

"I try to smile all the time," he added. "Making jokes lets me stay myself.

"Fame and attention are good most of the time, but sometimes you wake up in a bad mood and you just want to hide and not be recognized.

"But I like when people know me, recognize me -- that's a good point."

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST