PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz racked up his 40th win of the year when he defeated Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3 to begin his Umag title defence in style.
The Spaniard won his maiden title at the Croatian clay court tournament in 2021 and has returned this year as the youngest man to make the top five in the world since Rafael Nadal in 2005, AFP reported.
Since defeating Richard Gasquet in the Umag final last year, 19-year-old Alcaraz has added four further titles to his collection, including Masters crowns at Miami and Madrid.
Thursday’s win came after a surprise weekend loss in the Hamburg final against Lorenzo Musetti.
Alcaraz, who is now 25-3 on clay this season, will face Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
Alcaraz said that he is not obsessed with his ranking, but reveals that he would love to make his debut at the ATP Finals this year. Alcaraz, 19, is having an exceptional season and is third on the Race to Turin list.
Alcaraz has a real chance of finishing in the top five this season, but insists his goal is the prestigious end-of-season tournament. “It would be a good goal, but at the moment I am not thinking about the ranking, but about reaching the ATP Finals in Turin at the end of the season.
For me the ranking, at the moment, is not the most important thing, even if I fight. Keeping winning matches and tournaments is what will lead me to keep going up,” Alcaraz said, according to Tennishead. “The truth is that a little yes [it has been a surprise].
I have had incredible results this year, I did not expect to evolve so quickly, but I work for it. As I always say, hard work pays off, although in my case it was all a bit quick and surprising,” added Alcaraz. It’s been a great year for Alcaraz, who has won four titles so far in 2022.
In Miami, when Alcaraz was still 18 years old, he defeated Casper Ruud in the final to lift his first Masters title.
In May, Alcaraz hit the clay courts of Madrid to win his second Masters title. In addition, Alcaraz claimed victories at the ATP 500 events in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.
However, there was one thing that Alcaraz failed to do: win the French Open. Alcaraz made it clear that his goal was to win his first Grand Slam title at the French Open, but then suffered a quarter-final loss to Alexander Zverev.
The Spaniard confided in his state of mind before playing, a few days after his lost final in Hamburg against Lorenzo Musetti. “I am completely recovered physically and mentally from what happened in Hamburg and I look ready to defend my title in Umag.
I really like this event, I love coming because there is a great atmosphere and I was able to relax for a few days and do new things, like jet skiing. I thought a lot before making this promise to come and, fortunately, this year I was able to keep it.
I don’t know if I’ll repeat that promise next year, first I want to win the tournament and then we’ll see.”
