Carlos Alcaraz chases third straight Indian Wells title

INDIAN WELLS, California — Carlos Alcaraz will take a soft approach as he vies to become just the third man to win three straight titles at Indian Wells, where he could find a member of that exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, standing in his way in the quarterfinals.

"I will try not to think about it," Alcaraz said of his bid to match the treble feat achieved by Djokovic in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and Roger Federer in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

"I will try just to enjoy it," Alcaraz told reporters Tuesday as he prepped for the elite ATP Masters 1000 tournament that starts Wednesday alongside a WTA 1000 tournament.

"This tournament, every time that I come here, I enjoy so much practicing, playing. Everything for me here is so easy.

"So I will try not to think about it, just flow and see how it's going to be, the tournament. But it is something that for me would be great to achieve."

Alcaraz, coming off a quarterfinal defeat in the Qatar Open, is seeded second behind Germany's Alexander Zverev, who finished runner-up at the Australian Open to Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

Sinner last month accepted a belated three-month ban after testing positive a year ago for traces of banned Clostebol.

The case initially saw him exonerated when authorities accepted his explanation that the drug entered his system when a physiotherapist using it to treat a wound gave him a massage.

The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed, the case dragging on through Sinner's triumph at the Australian Open this year.

Alcaraz said Sinner's absence doesn't change his approach "at all."

"I mean, Jannik's not playing, but there are a lot of the best players in the world [that] are playing here," he said. "I think the draw is really open.

"I'm just focused on my things, on myself, and I try to play good tennis here."