Editor’s note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

The time has come. Carlos Alcaraz now has a place and date for his 2023 season debut. He will play his first match of the year next week at the Argentina Open, facing the winner of the first-round encounter between Fabio Fognini and Laslo Djere in Buenos Aires.

Before taking to the South American clay, the No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings spoke to the press on Saturday about how he is approaching his first clash of the year.

“It’ll be my first tournament since I picked up the injury in Paris,” said the Spaniard, who suffered an oblique tear last November at the Rolex Paris Masters. “It’s been four months since then. But I always arrive thinking about winning and wanting to win, even though it won’t be easy after such a long time without competing.”

The 19-year-old Murcia native touched upon the difficulty of the fact that most of his opponents will have six weeks of competition under their belts this season: “That’s why I’ve come a few days early, to train with really good players, gradually improve and to be able to start the tournament as well as possible,” he explained.

The top seed has decided to bring a few family members with him to South America. His father, his brother and his uncle will be alongside the former World No. 1 in Argentina.

“They’re here and I also count my team as family: Juanjo [Moreno], my physio, Albert Molina and Toni [Antonio Martínez Cascales],” he said.

Alcaraz understands that the presence of significant others in his life beyond the court can have an important influence on his performance with racquet in hand: “I have a great time with them. At the end of the day, the time on court is two or three hours a day. The rest of the time you have to do things you enjoy, that make you feel good so that you can do as well as possible in the tournament. They come to support me, but also to bring that part of ‘home’, which is also very important.”

View Buenos Aires Draw

Having climbed to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 12 September 2022, the Spaniard stayed at World No. 1 for 20 weeks, matching the time spent there by the legendary Mats Wilander and surpassing other greats of the sport like Andy Roddick, Boris Becker, Marat Safin and his own coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

All of this was reward for a year in which he picked up his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, his first ATP Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Madrid, and his first ATP 500 trophies in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

“It was a very good year,” he said of his recent success. “I achieved my dream, my goal, very quickly. Practically in just a year. I dealt with it as naturally as possible. After becoming No. 1 I had to set new goals, new things for the long term, to continue to enjoy myself, continue to improve, because I’m very young and I have a lot of things to improve, despite being the No. 1. You have to keep training and looking forward.”

So, what are these things he needs to improve?

“I think I can improve everything in terms of my game, fitness and mentality,” he said. “Little by little, my team will take those small steps to get even better.”

Alcaraz is following in the footsteps of the best of all time: “Rafa, Roger and Djokovic, when they were young, they were so good, but as time has gone by, they’ve improved,” he added. This is the basis of his motivation from now on.

“I’m certain that I need to continue to improve,” he insisted. “Achieving my dream very quickly caught me by surprise, so to speak. Now I’m used to it, I have a goal, I know where I want to get to, what I want to be, and that is the most important thing.”

Interestingly, he will be playing an event this week that Ferrero won in 2010. “It’s a really wonderful tournament that Juan Carlos won before and he’s told me good things about it,” he shared.

Alcaraz has already matched some of Ferrero’s achievements by lifting the trophies in Umag and Barcelona, and by winning a Grand Slam and becoming World No. 1. Will he continue to imitate his coach in Buenos Aires?

We will find out this week, but, as he was keen to point out: “It won’t be easy.”

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas could face Jannik Sinner in a second-round showdown at the ABN AMRO Open, where the Greek is looking to clinch his maiden title at the indoor ATP 500 event in Rotterdam.

View Draws: Singles | Doubles

Tsitsipas, who reached the final in Rotterdam last year before falling to Felix Auger-Aliassime, takes on World No. 53 Emil Ruusuvuori in his first ATP Tour outing since reaching the Australian Open championship match last month. Should he defeat the Finn in his opener, the Greek could meet Sinner in a rematch of the pair’s five-set fourth-round Australian Open clash.

The World No. 17 Sinner opens his campaign against Benjamin Bonzi, while 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta and Auckland champion Richard Gasquet are potential quarter-final opponents for both him and Tsitsipas.

A stacked draw brimming with quality also features fourth seed Holger Rune and eighth seed Alexander Zverev in its top half. Rune plays a qualifier on his event debut, while his potential quarter-final opponent Zverev meets Adelaide International 2 champion Soonwoo Kwon first up in the Netherlands.

Auger-Aliassime returns to the scene of his maiden ATP Tour triumph, but the defending champion will have to plot his way through a heavy-hitting third quarter if he wants to repeat his 2022 title run. The Canadian won four indoor titles last season, more than any other player on Tour, but his first-round opponent Lorenzo Sonego also has recent pedigree on indoor hard courts — the Italian did not drop a set en route to his third tour-level title last September in Metz.

If Auger-Aliassime can advance to the Rotterdam quarter-finals this week for the third time in five appearances, his potential challengers include sixth seed and 2019 semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev. The 26-year-old opens against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with Botic van de Zandschulp or Borna Coric next for Medvedev if he can find a way past the Spaniard.

Second seed Andrey Rublev and fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz bookend a high-powered bottom quarter. The 2021 champion Rublev will look to improve upon his 12-3 winning record in Rotterdam but faces a stern opening test in Alex de Minaur. Home favourite Tim van Rijthoven and Montpellier finalist Maxime Cressy are potential second-round opponents.

Hurkacz has not been past the second round in three appearances at Rotterdam Ahoy, and 11-time tour-level champion Roberto Bautista Agut presents a tough first-round challenge for the World No. 10. Bautista Agut carries a 3-0 ATP Head2Head series lead into their encounter.

Argentine Federico Coria advanced to his second tour-level final on Saturday when he battled past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 7-6(2) at the Cordoba Open.

Competing on home soil, the sixth seed continued his impressive week as he outlasted defending champion Ramos-Vinolas in a series of brutal baseline exchanges to advance after two hours and 32 minutes.

The 30-year-old Coria, who has dropped just one set en route to the final, rallied from a break down in the second set, hitting with consistency in the second-set tie-break to earn victory in his first ATP Head2Head meeting against Ramos-Vinolas.

Coria lost in the championship match in Bastad in 2021, but he will try to go one step further to his maiden ATP Tour crown when he plays Hugo Dellien or Sebastian Baez on Sunday. Coria is up to No. 49 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Jannik Sinner reached his eighth tour-level final and the first of the season on Saturday when he defeated #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-2 at the Open Sud de France – Montpellier.

In a hard-fought clash, the second seed saved two set points on serve at 4-5 in the first set before he upped his intensity and aggression from the baseline in the second set to advance after one hour and 34 minutes.

“I am very happy to be in my first final of the season,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “We practised very hard to play some big matches. It doesn’t matter what kind of tournament, every tournament when you go far is very good. I am very happy to be in the final here.”

The 18-year-old Fils has enjoyed a dream run in Montpellier at his second tour-level event, defeating Richard Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut and Quentin Halys in straight sets. However, after starting well, he never recovered from squandering set points in the opener, misfiring more as the match went on.

“He [Fils] beat incredible players at this tournament so I knew I had to play at a very high level today,” Sinner said. “He is very strong and has great groundstrokes. Maybe I had a bit of experience on him in the first set and I got a bit lucky.”

Sinner, currently No. 15 in the Pepeprstone ATP Live Rankings, now holds a 18-5 career tour-level record against Frenchmen. The 21-year-old Italian will compete for his seventh tour-level title on Sunday when he faces #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune or American Maxime Cressy.

Sinner, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open last month, has won five of his six tour-level crowns on hard courts. His other triumph came on clay in Umag.

Fils, who was the youngest Frenchman to reach the semi-finals at a tour-level event since Richard Gasquet in Metz in 2004, is up to No. 117 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his standout week.

A three-tournament week on the ATP Tour sees a host of Top 10 stars in action across three continents.

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime returns to the ABN AMRO Open, an ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, while Taylor Fritz is the top seed at the Delray Beach Open, an ATP 250 hard-court tournament. Carlos Alcaraz competes for the first time this year and headlines the field at the Argentina Open, a clay-court ATP 250.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event.

View Draws: Rotterdam | Buenos Aires | Delray Beach

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ROTTERDAM
1) Tsitsipas Top Seed: World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas will aim to continue his strong start to the season when he headlines the field in Rotterdam. The Greek, who reached his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open last month, has performed well at the ATP 500 event, reaching the semi-finals in 2021 before he advanced to the championship match last year. Tsitsipas opens against Emil Ruusuvuori and could play Jannik Sinner in the second round.

2) Defending Champion Felix: Auger-Aliassime broke new ground in Rotterdam last year when he defeated Tsitsipas to lift his first ATP Tour trophy. The 22-year-old Canadian entered the match holding a 0-8 record in tour-level finals, but quickly came out firing to improve on that record. The third seed is competing for the first time since he reached the fourth round at the Australian Open.

3) Seeded Threats: Second seed Andrey Rublev and fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz have both tasted success at ATP 500 events. Rublev has lifted five trophies at this level, including the Rotterdam title in 2021, while Hurkacz triumphed at Halle last year. Rublev opens his campaign against Alex de Minaur with Hurkacz facing Roberto Bautista Agut.

4) Can Sinner & Rune Maintain Momentum?: Sinner and Holger Rune arrive in Rotterdam off the back of deep runs in Montpellier. Rune advanced to the semi-finals, with Sinner competing in the final on Sunday. Sinner reached the quarter-finals at the indoor hard-court event in Rotterdam in 2020, while fourth seed Rune is making his debut.

5) Koolhof/Skupski Lead Doubles Field: Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski captured seven tour-level titles in 2022 but are still searching for their first crown this year. The Dutch-British tandem faces competition from second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, third seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek and fourth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DELRAY BEACH
1) Fritz Headlines: Taylor Fritz will make his sixth appearance at the ATP 250 event in Delray Beach when he headlines the field as the top seed. The American, who is still alive in Dallas this week, has never been beyond the quarter-finals at the tournament. He will be aiming to change that record starting against Emilio Gomez or a qualifier.

2) Paul & Shapovalov In Action: Tommy Paul arrives in Delray Beach high in confidence after soaring to the semi-finals at the Australian Open. The second seed, who reached the semi-finals at the ATP 250 in 2022, will be seeking his second tour-level title. Third seed Denis Shapovalov is making his second appearance in Florida, having advanced to the semi-finals in 2018.

3) Shelton In Action: #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton caught the attention of the tennis world in January when he reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on his first trip outside of the United States. Back on home soil this week, the eighth seed begins against Marcos Giron at the hard-court tournament.

4) Americans Pack Field: There are 11 American men in the draw in Florida, not including qualifiers. Seventh seed John Isner plays countryman J.J. Wolf, with 2017 champion Jack Sock receiving a wild card. Sixth seed Jenson Brooksby opens against Ilya Ivashka.

5) Arevalo/Rojer Reigning Champs: Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer return to Delray beach as defending champions. The top seeds are joined in the draw by second seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BUENOS AIRES
1) Alcaraz Returns: World No. 2 Alcaraz will compete for the first since November when he leads the field as the top seed at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires. The 19-year-old, who missed the Australian Open due to a leg injury, is making his debut in Buenos Aires. The Spaniard tasted success on clay in 2022, clinching crowns in Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and Madrid.

2) Norrie Makes Debut: Cameron Norrie will make his debut in Buenos Aires this week, after competing in Colombia for Great Britain in the Davis Cup earlier this month. The second seed arrives holding a 10-2 record on the year, earning Top 10 wins against Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup.

3) Returning Champions: Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem have both tasted success in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Schwartzman lifted the trophy in 2021, while Thiem won the title in 2016 and 2018. Schwartzman is the fourth seed at the clay-court event, with Austrian Thiem receiving a wild card.

4) Home Hopes: Alongside Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo and Sebastian Baez will fly the flag for Argentina. Cerundolo came through qualifying to reach the final in Buenos Aires in 2021, while Baez made the quarter-finals on debut last year.

5) Granollers/Zeballos Top Seed: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the top seeds in the doubles draw, with Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez seeded second. Singles stars Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem are joining forces.

Top seeds Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez were one of two teams to win Match Tie-breaks in Friday’s quarter-finals at the Cordoba Open.

The Brazilian-Spanish team defeated Nicolas Barrientos and Ariel Behar 6-4, 3-6, 13-11, saving a match point at in the Match Tie-break 9/10 before clinching victory on their third match point. They will meet third-seeded Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the semis after the home hopes saved a match point of their own in a Thursday quarter-final win.

The second Cordoba doubles semi-final will see second-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni take on Kazakhs Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

Gonzalez/Molteni defeated Bolivians Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos 6-2, 6-4 on Friday, while Golubev and Nedovyesov beat Argentines Guido Andreozzi and Guillermo Duran 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Haase/Middelkoop Upset Top Seeds In Montpellier

The Dutch duo of Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop knocked off top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 on Friday at the Open Sud de France — Montpellier. It was the second consecutive Math Tie-break win for the fourth seeds, who also came from behind in their quarter-final victory. 

They await the winner of Saturday’s semi-final that pits Dutchmen Sander Arends and David Pel against Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti.

Dalls SFs Set

Three of the four Dallas Open quarter-finals required Match Tie-breaks, with three of the tournament’s top four seeds advancing to the semis.

Top seeds Michael Venus and Jamie Murray were 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 winners against William Blumberg and Miomir Kecmanovic. They will meet fourth seeds Ben McLachlan and Andre Goransson in Saturday’s semis after the Swedish-Japanese pair’s 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 win against Serbian brothers Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov.

In the lone upset of the day, Indians Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni defeated third-seeded Britons Julian Cash and Henry Patten 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. Their semi-final opponents will be second seeds Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons. The Americans scored a 6-3, 6-2 win against Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Treat Huey on Friday.

Playing in his own backyard at the Dallas Open, John Isner made ATP Tour history by becoming the first man to win 500 tour-level tie-breaks. 

The milestone moment came in Friday’s quarter-finals, during a 7-6(8), 7-5 win for the American against Emilio Gomez. He had to work hard for No. 500, saving a set point at 6/7 with a second-serve ace down the T before converting on his third set point of the tie-break.

“I’ve won a lot of tie-breaks in my career, and in the first set I won a big number of them: 500 of them,” he said in his on-court interview in Dallas, drawing cheers from his home crowd. “I’m very glad I didn’t have to win 501.”

Isner’s 500 tie-break wins put him 34 ahead of Roger Federer on the Open Era list, with Pete Sampras (328), Andy Roddick (303), Novak Djokovic (299) and Rafael Nadal (263) also in the Top 10.

Asked to explain his success in tie-breaks, Isner put it down to experience. No one has played more tie-breaks than him, with 819 contested in his career.

“It just comes with a lot of experience, being in that situation. I would love to win matches like Novak does, 6-,1 6-0, but it’s just not my style,” he said with a smile. “A lot of times I live by the sword, like I have this week, and a lot of times I die by the sword. I take the good with the bad.

“I think something about being at home is calming my nerves in those big situations,” he added, alluding to his perfect 4-0 tie-break record this week. “I’m very happy, very lucky to have this tournament here.”

No stranger to history-making statistics, Isner became the ATP Tour’s undisputed ace king last July at Wimbledon, when he passed Ivo Karlovic for the most aces. He has continued to add to his tally since then, and has now hit more than 14,000 aces.

Novak Djokovic proved once again that he is the master of Melbourne when he won his ninth Australian Open title last month. While the Serbian said he was far from confident in his title chances at times due to his hamstring tear, several of his ATP Tour colleagues had no problem correctly picking him to reclaim the crown at the year’s first Grand Slam.

Denis Shapovalov, Jack Draper, John Isner and Thanasi Kokkinakis were among those to correctly predict Djokovic’s triumph when we sat down with some of the game’s biggest stars to get their thoughts on how the 2023 season will unfold. The expert panel also included Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.

Djokovic was also the popular pick for the player to win the most ATP Masters 1000 titles. The Serbian is a natural choice with his record 38 trophies at that prestigious level, including two Career Golden Masters.

“Just because he’s so strong,” said Medvedev, who joined Isner, Kokkinakis and Draper in selecting the Serbian. “When he plays, he wins a lot of tournaments.”

There was also a lot of love for Jannik Sinner with three players—Nadal, Draper and Kokkinakis—tipping the Italian to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title this season. Sinner has reached one ATP Masters 1000 final, in 2021 in Miami, where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz.

“He was close, he’s young, he’s growing,” said Nadal. “He has the right potential. Why not?”