2024 Carlos Alcaraz tennis season

Australian Open

Alcaraz began his 2024 campaign at the Australian Open. His third round opponent, wild card Jerry Shang, retired at the start of the third set. Alcaraz therefore moved into the fourth round, marking his most successful run at the Australian Open at that date.^[6] He cruised into the quarterfinals after beating Miomir Kecmanović in straight sets.^[7] At the age of 20 years, 8 months and 15 days, Alcaraz became the fourth-youngest man in Open Era history to reach all four major quarterfinals.^[8] However, he lost in the quarterfinals to sixth seed Alexander Zverev.^[9]

Argentina Open

In February, Alcaraz entered the Argentina Open as the defending champion. He won his first two matches in straight sets before losing to Nicolás Jarry in straight sets in the semifinals.^[10][11]

Rio Open

The following week, Alcaraz retired two games into his first match at the Rio Open. He had injured his ankle in the first game after playing just two points.^[12] He later announced the injury was a lateral sprain to his right ankle, but said he would miss just "a few days" of play and planned to compete at Las Vegas and Indian Wells.^[13]

Indian Wells

As defending champion at Indian Wells, Alcaraz came back into form, defeating Matteo Arnaldi, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Fábián Marozsán, and Alexander Zverev to reach the semifinals with just one dropped set.^[14] In the semifinals, Alcaraz recovered from a first-set breadstick to defeat Jannik Sinner 1–6, 6–3, 6–2. This victory levelled the Alcaraz–Sinner rivalry at 4–4 and ended Sinner's 19 match win streak.^[15][16] Alcaraz then successfully defended his title by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final, earning him his first title since Wimbledon 2023.^[17] This would prove to be the only Masters event at which Alcaraz advanced beyond the quarterfinals all year.

Miami Open

At the Miami Open, Alcaraz defeated Roberto Carballés Baena, Gaël Monfils, and Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets, but lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals, ending his hopes of achieving the Sunshine Double.^[18]

Madrid Open

Alcaraz returned to competition as the two-time defending champion in Madrid, defeating Alexander Shevchenko, Thiago Seyboth Wild, and Jan-Lennard Struff, before losing to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.^[21] He subsequently withdrew from the Italian Open due to continued discomfort in his forearm.^[22]

French Open

Alcaraz returned to play at the French Open with a compression sleeve on his right arm.^[23] After his first round victory against J. J. Wolf, Alcaraz admitted, "I'm still feeling weird or afraid to hit every forehand."^[24] He nevertheless reached the semifinals, where he defeated second seed Jannik Sinner in five sets.^[25] Despite the length of the match, this is not generally considered one of their higher quality encounters. Alcaraz then defeated fourth seed Alexander Zverev, also in five sets, to claim the title.^[26] This was Alcaraz's first title at Roland Garros and his third major title overall. He became the first man in Open Era history to win his first three major titles on three different surfaces, as well as the youngest man to win major titles on all three surfaces.^[27][28]

Queen's Club Championships

Alcaraz began his grass court season at the Queen's Club Championships, where he was the defending champion. He defeated Francisco Cerúndolo in the first round, but was upset in straight sets by Jack Draper in the second.^[29]

Wimbledon

Alcaraz also entered Wimbledon as the defending champion. He had a difficult encounter with Frances Tiafoe in the third round. Tiafoe was close to breaking Alcaraz and serving for the match in the fourth set; however, Alcaraz held serve from 0–30 and won the match in five sets.^[30] Alcaraz won the rest of his matches with relative ease to reach his second consecutive Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz sailed through the first two sets of the final 6–2, 6–2. He then lost three match points on his serve in the third set, but recovered to win it in a tiebreak.^[31] This was Alcaraz's second title at Wimbledon and his fourth major title overall.^[32] With this title, Alcaraz tied Mats Wilander and Björn Borg's record for the most men's singles major titles won by age 21.^[33] He also improved his grass court win percentage to the best in the Open Era at that time, at 89%.^[34]

Olympic doubles

Alcaraz entered the men's doubles competition in a heavily-publicised partnership with Rafael Nadal.^[35] Alcaraz and Nadal defeated the Argentinians Máximo González and Andrés Molteni, and the Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof, in the first and second rounds.^[36] They lost to the eventual silver-medallists, Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, in the quarterfinals.^[37] This was Nadal's last match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Olympic singles

Alcaraz defeated Hady Habib, Tallon Griekspoor, Roman Safiullin, Tommy Paul and Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the final without dropping a set.^[38] Alcaraz entered the final as the significant favorite to win against Novak Djokovic, whom he had demolished at Wimbledon. However, he lost to him in a straight sets match decided by two tiebreaks; despite Alcaraz holding eight break points in the first set, neither man was ever broken on serve. Alcaraz therefore secured a silver medal for Spain.^[39][40]

Cincinnati Open

Alcaraz received a bye through to the second round of the Cincinnati Open. He was drawn against Gaël Monfils in the first round. Alcaraz secured the first set 6–4. The second set proceeded to a tiebreak in which Alcaraz found himself down 1–3 before the players were forced off court due to rain.^[42] The match resumed the next day; Alcaraz lost the tiebreak and subsequently the match.^[43] After being broken in the third set, Alcaraz smashed a racquet on court for the first time in his career. This generated significant media coverage, particularly in Spain, where Rafael Nadal's habit of never damaging racquets was well-known.^[44] Sportswriter Patrick Redford likened it to "watching a puppy smoke a cigarette".^[45] Alcaraz delivered a public apology.^[46]

US Open

Alcaraz then entered the US Open, where he was bidding to become the third man in the Open Era to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year.^[47] Alcaraz defeated qualifier Li Tu in the first round. He was then defeated in straight sets by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round, in what Andy Roddick described as "one of the craziest losses I've seen".^[48][49] This was Alcaraz's earliest loss in a major since Wimbledon 2021, when he had been eighteen years old.^[50] In his media conference following the match, Alcaraz said, "I'm not doing well mentally, I'm not strong. I don't know how to control myself when faced with problems and I don't know how to handle it. I have to see exactly what happened, or what's going on with me."^[51]

Davis Cup

Alcaraz joined the Spanish team as his country's top-ranked singles player for the group stage of the Davis Cup, where Spain were drawn against the Czech Republic and France.^[52] Alcaraz played two singles matches. He recorded a win against Tomáš Macháč after Macháč retired in the third set, and defeated Ugo Humbert in straight sets. Alcaraz also formed a successful doubles partnership with Marcel Granollers to defeat Jakub Menšik and Adam Pavlásek.^[53]

Laver Cup

Alcaraz then made his debut for Team Europe at the 2024 Laver Cup.^[54] On Day One, he played doubles with Alexander Zverev, losing to Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton of Team World. On Day Two, Alcaraz recorded a singles victory against Shelton. On Day Three, Alcaraz played doubles with Casper Ruud, winning against Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. He then played the final singles match of the tournament against Fritz, which he won in straight sets, thus securing the Laver Cup for Team Europe.^[55] Alcaraz won a combined eight points across this edition of the Laver Cup, the most won by any player in any single year of the tournament's history.^[56]

China Open

Alcaraz returned to individual competition at the China Open in Beijing. He defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Tallon Griekspoor, Karen Khachanov, and Daniil Medvedev without dropping a set.^[57] With his victory against Griekspoor, Alcaraz recorded his 200th career victory, becoming the second-fastest man in Open Era history to achieve this milestone relative to total number of matches played.^[58] In the final, Alcaraz defeated defending champion Jannik Sinner in three sets. Alcaraz won seven consecutive points in a third-set tiebreak to clinch the title. At three hours and twenty-one minutes, this became the longest match in the history of the tournament.^[59] It was Alcaraz's third encounter with Sinner in 2024, and his third victory, snapping Sinner's 15-match win streak.^[60] With this win, Alcaraz reclaimed the world No. 2 ranking from Alexander Zverev.^[61] He also became the first player in ATP Tour history to win an ATP 500 singles title on every surface – clay, grass and hard court.^[62][63]

Shanghai Open

Alcaraz then entered the Shanghai Open, where he defeated Shang Juncheng, Wu Yibing, and Gaël Monfils in straight sets. He lost to 33rd-ranked Tomáš Macháč in straight sets in the quarterfinals, ending his own 12-match win streak.^[64]

Paris Masters

Alcaraz started his campaign at the Paris Masters with a win against Nicolás Jarry, before losing in three sets to Ugo Humbert in the round of sixteen.^[65] Following this tournament he lost the world No. 2 ranking once again to Alexander Zverev, the champion.

ATP Finals

Alcaraz was reportedly unwell during the ATP Finals but did not withdraw, beating Andrey Rublev but losing in straight sets to Zverev and Casper Ruud to exit the tournament in the round-robin stage.^[66]

Davis Cup

Alcaraz reunited with the Spanish team in Málaga for the Davis Cup quarterfinals against the Netherlands. He won his singles match against Tallon Griekspoor to level the tie at 1–1, but then lost in doubles alongside Marcel Granollers to Wesley Koolhof and Botic van de Zandschulp. Spain were knocked out of the 2024 Davis Cup, ending Alcaraz's season and sending compatriot Rafael Nadal into retirement.^[67] Alcaraz became the first man to finish the year ranked as low as world No. 3 after winning two majors that season.

Singles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Mar 2024	Indian Wells Open, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Daniil Medvedev[a]	7–6(7–5), 6–1
Win	2–0	Jun 2024	French Open, France	Grand Slam	Clay	Alexander Zverev	6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Win	3–0	Jul 2024	Wimbledon, Great Britain	Grand Slam	Grass	Novak Djokovic	6–2, 6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	3–1	Aug 2024	Summer Olympics, France	Olympics	Clay	Novak Djokovic	6–7(3–7), 6–7(2–7)
Win	4–1	Oct 2024	China Open, China	500 Series	Hard	Jannik Sinner	6–7(6–8), 6–4, 7–6(7–3)

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