Carlos Alcaraz deserved to end his fantastic season at the ATP Finals in Turin. The Murcian phenomenon suffered an injury at the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 and had to give up the Masters Tournament. The Spaniard underwent instrumental tests immediately after the match he retired against Holger Rune; examinations revealed an oblique tear in the left abdominal wall.
Therefore, Alcaraz had no chance to defend his top spot in the ATP rankings on the court. However, Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas did not take advantage of the important opportunity in Turin. The Mallorcan was eliminated after just two games; while the Greek dashed all hopes by losing in his debut against Novak Djokovic.
Tsitsipas should have won the tournament undefeated to become the new number one in the world. Alcaraz thus became the youngest in tennis history to finish the season at the top of the table. Djokovic congratulated the Spaniard for his important achievement at only 19 years and six months and settled any controversy.
“This is great news for him. He deserved it without a doubt. I don’t want to get into the argument that he could have finished the season on top if he had played more tournaments. That’s how it was. Alcaraz is number one, that’s the reality,” Djokovic told a news conference.
“He deserves to be in this position. He won a Slam and many matches. He is a great new face for our sport. He is a very good guy and works hard. He has a great team, which represents him in the best way. I can only say good things about him.
It was an unusual season for me. Obviously, I haven’t participated in many tournaments. But I can say that I learned a lot about myself, about the world I live in and about people who behave in a certain way with me. I am always grateful to have experiences in my life.
I always try to be optimistic. I’m looking forward to starting the year in Australia.”
Djokovic still wants to win a lot
During the interview, Novak Djokovic also noted that he was interested in raising awareness about everything wrong with tennis.
“Everything to do with health, for example. But I’m also interested in talking about what’s wrong with the world of tennis,” Djokovic said. “A sport that in terms of popularity and diffusion comes second only to football and basketball in the NBA, which is followed and practiced everywhere, even in China there are many fields, but which gives a living to just 500 people: does it seem possible to you?”