State of the Season: How will Carlos Alcaraz fare in the final months of 2024?

What’s at Stake

Proving that even the best of champions is human, an angry Carlos Alcaraz broke a racquet this summer while in the middle of a loss to Gael Monfils at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Though he swiftly apologized for the outburst, it had become clear throughout August that the usually happy and positive Alcaraz was feeling frayed and arguably even burned out. So it was that Alcaraz was upset in the second round of the US Open by 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.

Said Alcaraz following that defeat, “Probably I'm a guy or I'm a player that needs more days or more break coming into the good tournaments or the important ones. So I have to think about it, and I have to learn about it.”

With Jannik Sinner this year having blossomed into a Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is also aware that he has, for the first time, a significant rival similar in age. Speaking prior to their semifinal match at Roland Garros this year, Alcaraz said that Sinner, “probably is one of the most difficult challenge that we can face in tennis right now.”

In addition to winning that match in Paris, Alcaraz also beat Sinner the only other time these two have played this year, rallying from a set down in the semis of Indian Wells.

“So every time that I'm playing against Jannik, I think for both of us, it's an amazing fight,” said Alcaraz. “But for the crowd, is an amazing match that I think that they enjoy every time that we are playing each other. I think the energy that people bring to us is special.”

Motivation

Just don’t confuse graciousness with acquiescence. After all, anyone’s who been No. 1 wants to return to that spot. Surely, following his August slump, Alcaraz is primed to bring his all to the balance of ’24. He'll try and earn his first singles title since Wimbledon, and regardless of how the rankings shake out this year, relish the chance to play Sinner at least one more time.

Alcaraz is also seeking to balance two opposing ideas. Much as players and coaches love to refer to the pro journey as a marathon, Alcaraz’s incredible performances over the last three years have made it seem like a sprint. In the history of tennis, only Ken Rosewall and Bjorn Borg have matched Alcaraz’s feat of winning four singles majors by the age of 21. Alcaraz’s quartet of majors covers an impressive surface-wide breadth, from the hard courts of the US Open (’22) to clay at Roland Garros (’24), and the grass of Wimbledon (’23-’24).

The demands of that rapid pace propelled Rosewall and Borg in vastly different directions. The year Rosewall turned 40, he reached the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. At 25, a world-weary Borg lost in the finals of the US Open and never again played a major. Given Alcaraz’s wide range of tools and the joy he brings to tennis, one assumes his marathon path will come closer to Rosewall’s.

Tournaments to Watch

Alcaraz’s fall tournament season starts at the ATP 500 event in Beijing. A year ago there, he lost to Sinner in the semis. After Beijing comes the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai, where in ’23 Alcaraz was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16.