Carlos Alcaraz said on Sunday that the pressure to reclaim the world No 1 ranking from the suspended Jannik Sinner has had a negative impact on his form this season.
"A lot of people are asking me, or are telling me, that I have the chance to become No 1 if Jannik is not playing," Alcaraz said during a press conference at the Monte Carlo Masters.
"So probably that pressure has killed me in some way."
The 21-year-old Spaniard added that staying at world No 3 has not come as a shock to him.
"I'm not surprised because the people always say that we have to win the tournaments or the top people have to be there all the time playing finals or winning tournaments," he said.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz has endured a tough start to 2025, with his only title coming on the hard courts of Rotterdam two months ago.
But the 1000 event in Monte Carlo signals the start of the clay-court season – a surface Alcaraz has excelled on.
He won the French Open last year, as well as back-to-back Madrid Masters in 2022 and 2023.
Sinner has been out of action since accepting a three-month doping ban in February after twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.
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The 23-year-old Italian is due to return in time for the Rome Open in May.
Alcaraz, currently trailing Sinner by 3 610 points in the rankings, said he has at peace with not usurping the Italian as the world's best player.
"I'm just thinking that I'm not able to become No 1... in the clay season, even if Jannik is not playing, I don't have the chance to do it," he said.
"I think I'm too far from Jannik. So I'm just here and I realise that I don't have to think about it and just go there and play.
"That's my mindset right now."
After being eliminated on his debut in 2022 and withdrawing from the last two editions, Alcaraz has yet to win a match on the Monte Carlo clay.
Given a bye for the first round, he will seek to end that streak when he takes on the winner of the round of 64 match between Francisco Cerundolo and Fabio Fognini.