Carlos Alcaraz makes desperate Novak Djokovic rankings confession after shock defeat

Carlos Alcaraz has given his verdict on his shock defeat against Grigor Dimitrov in the Shanghai Masters.

World No 2 Alcaraz suffered his earliest exit to a tournament since May when he was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the Shanghai Masters.

The Spaniard went out of the Rome Open at the last-32 stage in the final warm-up tournament to the French Open, but had made at least the quarter-final of every other event since then.

However, after beating Britain’s Dan Evans in the first round, he crashed out in the last-16 in China after Dimitrov came from behind to post a 5-7 6-2 6-4 victory, clinically out drop-shotting the drop-shot master.

“I stayed in the match, that was the first thing, especially after the first set,” Dimitrov said on the ATP Tour website.

“I was serving very well throughout the first set and he made a few errors. I pushed him to make a lot of errors at certain moments. At 4-5 he played an amazing game and another at 6-5. I was creating a lot of opportunities.

“After the second break in the second set I think I understood his service games and was able to put more balls in and read his serve a bit better. I think in the third set it was a bit of cat-and-mouse.

“I think we both played a solid set. He made a few errors and I was very solid and served well when I had to.”

The result was a hammer blow to Alcaraz’s hopes of knocking Novak Djokovic off the top of the ATP rankings, with his dream to finish 2023 as the world No 1 now in tatters.

He was hoping to make up ground on Djokovic in the rankings after the Serbian opted out of playing in the tournaments in China over the last couple of weeks.

READ MORE: Sensational Carlos Alcaraz defeat gives Novak Djokovic incredible rankings boost

Yet Alcaraz lost in the semi-finals of the China Open against Jannik Sinner and backed that up with an early exit in Shanghai.

He will now play at the ATP 500 event in Basel, but admitted his hopes of finishing the year as world No 1 may be over.

“I want to do my best in Basel, which will be my next tournament,” he confirmed.

“I know that the goal of finishing number 1 this year has been very complicated for me with these last results.

“It is going to be difficult, but I want to try. I will try to win the next events.”

Alcaraz’s forehand was targeted by Dimitrov as he beat Alcaraz for the first time, with the Spaniard philosophical after his defeat.

“The truth is that I have the feeling that he played very well,” he added.

“His level was quite above the previous matches we played against each other. He did not have a single up or down.

“I thought that after the first set, which was hard for him, it would turn out very differently. I made some mistakes that didn’t matter at the beginning of the second set and he didn’t let me get back into the match.

“I tried at all times to find a way to apply my tennis, but I wasn’t able to. I was defending the whole game, without giving myself the opportunity to play as aggressively as I would have liked.. I have to learn to maintain concentration in moments like the start of the second set, where I was not good at all.

“I always say that you can learn much more from defeats than from victories. I take many lessons to be better. I have to work more on some things if I want to beat the best.

“Before competing again, I am going to train in several aspects that I have been able to learn a lot from in this match.”

The defeat for Alcaraz leaves him 2,240 points behind Djokovic in the live ATP rankings, with the Serbian now set to claim the prestigious year-end world No 1 title unless Alcaraz enjoys a sensational end to the season.

Djokovic has 600 points to defend from his run to the Paris Masters final last year and he also has 1,5000 points to defend from his flawless ATP Final win in Turin last year.

Alcaraz was injured at the back end of last year, so he could claim additional points in Basel, but his defeat against Dimitrov means he will need to win Paris and the ATP finals to have a chance to knock Djokovic off the top spot in the rankings.