"I need to play relaxed and not mind if I lose": Alcaraz takes pressure off ahead of Miami Open title defence

Carlos Alcaraz will try to defend an ATP 1000 trophy for the first time in his career and ahead of that he took the pressure off himself in order to better cope with it.

Alcaraz has an interesting relationship with the idea of pressure explaining at various times that it both affects and doesn't affect him. He talked about it leading up to the Miami Open which will be the first time he's a defending champion at an ATP 1000 event. He once again said that he doesn't feel the pressure too much:

"I don’t feel the pressure too much. I know the things I have to do. I need to play relaxed and not mind if I lose or if I play well or not. My goal is always the same. To feel comfortable on court. To enjoy playing tennis and try to have great thoughts when playing. And that is why I am playing at a good level. I am enjoying every single second and playing relaxed. That is what I am thinking about on court."

It's a healthy way to look at things but he's still very dedicated to his tennis career. He firmly believes in the need to improve at all times which is something you can see with the big three. All of them improved with every year and with the likes of Djokovic you still see the improvements:

"I always say that you can improve everything a little bit more. You have to improve, you have to get better every day. That is why the big players, the ‘Big Three’ for example, did throughout their careers, improving a bit every day."