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Carlos Alcaraz confessed that he had a new issue with his game after crashing out of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday. The Spaniard has been vocal about his hopes of fighting to get the world No 1 ranking back from Novak Djokovic but \u201clost a lot of opportunities\u201d with his defeats during the Asian swing. Alcaraz is now hoping to fix his problems before heading to Basel – his last tournament without Djokovic in the draw before the 36-year-old makes his return.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz crashed out of Shanghai in the round of 16 as an inspired Grigor Dimitrov came from a set down to stun the top seed 5-7 6-2 6-4. It marked his earliest defeat since the Rome Masters in May. And it was another disappointing result for the 20-year-old in his first-ever Asian swing after his loss to Jannik Sinner in last week\u2019s China Open semi-final.<\/p>\n
With Djokovic skipping the Asian swing to take a short break, the world No 2 had a chance to make up some vital ranking points in an effort to reclaim the top spot by the end of the year. But Alcaraz confessed that he lost a lot of opportunities with his early exits as he pinpointed a worrying problem that arose after he won the first set against Dimitrov.<\/p>\n
Asked what he had to work on in his game, Alcaraz said: \u201cStart better the second set. I think that’s a point that it’s tough for me.\u201d The Spaniard was 3-5 down in the opening set but stormed back to win four games in a row to take it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news<\/strong><\/p>\n Just in <\/strong> Novak Djokovic makes clear stance on issue that is ‘killing’ players[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n But he couldn\u2019t keep that intensity up after pulling off an escape. The 12-time title winner continued:\u00a0 \u201cYou know, after the first set, when I win the first set, more or less, it’s tough for me to keep the focus at the beginning of the second set. I’ll work on a few mistakes that, in certain moments, that I, you know, I have to put it in, and I didn’t. Those are the points that I have to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n Alcaraz still has his eye on the prize when it comes to his quest to return to No 1 but he knew it would be hard after losing early in Shanghai. \u201cWell, this loss I needed to be a little bit farther. It’s going to be tougher, if I want to be No 1. I have a few tournaments ahead, so I’ll try to do my best. I’ll try to, you know, win them, if I want to have a chance to end the year as No 1. I don’t know, but right now I lose a lot of opportunities to make it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/5007594.jpg?r=1697095256626\")
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