Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated in the last 16 at the Rolex Paris Masters, struggling a lot due to the very fast surface and giving way to a great Ugo Humbert. The former world number 1 – who had started the match really bad – tried the reaction and managed to win the second set, but he had to surrender to the French in the decisive stages of the third set by committing many unforced errors unusual.
The Spanish champion never had a great feeling with the last Masters 1000 of the season where – for various reasons – he never went beyond the quarterfinals (reached in 2022). The four-time Grand Slam champion has complained a lot about his over-speed surface, which has been called the fastest in the last ten years.
The 21-year-old from Murcia hoped to win his second Masters 1000 in 2024, which would also be a boost of confidence ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. The ATP Finals are Carlitos’ main goal in this last part of the season along with the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, where the tennis world will be greeting a legend like Rafael Nadal. It is no mystery that the Spanish player struggles in indoor conditions, not being able to fully exploit his serve and not being able to vary the game as he usually does on other surfaces.
Alcaraz will be No.3
Meanwhile, a blow has been dealt to Alcaraz. Reaching the final in Paris-Bercy, Alexander Zverev has overtaken him in the ATP ranking and will be the second favorite of seeding at the ATP Finals. This means that Carlos may have to face his big rival Jannik Sinner already in the group stage in Turin. As if that were not enough, everyone is waiting to know what Novak Djokovic will do in the final part of the season.
Unlike in Alcaraz, these particularly fast conditions in Bercy have enhanced Zverev’s style of play. In a recent interview with Tennis TV, Sascha said that he had talked to Carlitos about this topic: “Yeah to be honest we talked about it actually yesterday with Carlos, because we were both sitting in the players’ lounge and we were kind of having lunch together.
The atmosphere here is a lot louder than it is at Roland Garros, it’s crazy. I mean, but it feels like also the court is much smaller, the crowd is kind of on top of you, and it’s like an indoor atmosphere as well. So it’s definitely something that we don’t get a lot on tour, but I said it before, I love it, I love to play in Paris, It’s one of my favorite cities in the entire world to play tennis because of the crowd. They’re very energetic, they’re very loud.”
Regardless of the results he will get in the last events of the season, 2024 for the Spanish ace was exceptional. The former world number 1 has become the youngest ever to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, not forgetting his triumph at the Indian Wells Masters 1000 for the second year in a row. The defeat against Novak Djokovic in the final of the Olympic tournament was hard to digest for Carlos, who needed some time to return to play his best tennis again.
Two more events
In a long interview with ‘Tennis365’, top coach Patrick Mouratoglou commented on Alcaraz’s season: “I think what he did is probably the most difficult thing to do in tennis, to win back to back, two tournaments that are opposite in terms of qualities to win them. At Roland Garros, you need to be high on your legs, sliding, using a lot to spin longer rallies. Then go to Wimbledon, where you have to return big servers on the surface that is, of course, better for counter punchers or players who are much more aggressive with less spin.
At Wimbledon, you have to be so low on the legs and not slide and wow, those two tournaments are so close in terms of timing, to make those two back to back, is probably one of most difficult things to do in tennis. He’s very, very emotional. We’ve seen him cramp many times already. If you look at Roger, Rafa, and Novak, have you seen them cramp once in a match? All their careers? He cramped many times already, only at 21. He’s an emotional player.
So I think that knowing that, in the future, they will have to think of a calendar where he has enough rest – mental rest, not physical rest. Mental rest. I think it is very important for his future. But we don’t need to worry about Alcaraz. Look at what he has achieved at the age of 21. It’s amazing.”