Carlos Alcaraz motivated by his rivalry with Sinner: Time for his debut in Barcelona

Carlos Alcaraz begins on Tuesday his quest to retake the World No. 1 title he lost to Jannik Sinner when he was defeated at the Monte-Carlo Masters. This week, with Sinner resting and Alcaraz supported by the local crowds at the Barcelona Open, a tournament he already won in 2022 and 2023, the Spaniard has a clear shot at taking the title again, but only if he lifts the trophy.

Alcaraz defends 330 points after being runner-up in Barcelona last year, where he lost to Holger Rune. He is 110 points behind Sinner, so claiming the title, taking the full 500 points, would be the only result that would make Alcaraz World No. 1 again (by only 60 points!) before the Madrid Open next week, where Sinner is expected to return and neither will be defending points.

For Alcaraz, the battle between Sinner and him "probably provides extra motivation", and is glad to see Jannik improve because it also makes him be a better player and realise his weaknesses. "It's great to have him as a focal point and to see him achieving all that he's achieving", said Alcaraz via ATP.com.

"He has openly said that the clay swing wasn't his favourite because of his playing style. Seeing the results he's getting and the level he's showing on clay makes me happy, because he's the player who makes me improve, makes me stop and think about how I can be better, and what I need to work on to try and beat him."

Alcaraz will play his round of 32 match not earlier than 16:00 CEST, 15:00 BST, against the Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, ranked 130th in the world, on the Rafa Nadal court, where the match between Alex de Minaur and Sebastian Ofner will be played beforehand (at 11:00) and the interesting Martín Landaluce vs. Lorenzo Musetti, not before 12:10.

If Alcaraz wins, he could face fifth seed Andrey Rublev in quarter-finals, third seed Alex de Miñaur in semi-final, and potentially a final with another Italian, Lorenzo Musetti.