When will Carlos Alcaraz play his first round at the 2024 Australian Open?

Carlos Alcaraz

• Seed: 2
• Career-Best Ranking: 1
• Age: 20
• Career Titles: 12
• Grand Slam Titles: 2 — Wimbledon (2023), U.S. Open (2022)

When will Alcaraz play his Australian Open first round match?

Carlos Alcaraz is set to kick off his 2024 Australian Open campaign on Tuesday, January 16 against Richard Gasquet.

Anchoring the bottom half of the men’s draw, the No. 2-seeded Alcaraz will be playing in Melbourne for the first time since becoming a Grand Slam champion in 2022, having missed the tournament last year due to a right leg injury.

What did Alcaraz achieve in 2023?

Alcaraz is coming off another impressive year in 2023, winning his second major title at Wimbledon after defeating 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in one of the best matches of the year. He also added to his total 36 weeks as ATP world No. 1, a milestone he first achieved following the 2022 US Open.

Where did Alcaraz land in the 2024 Australian Open draw?

The 20-year-old Spaniard will be taking on a veteran in Gasquet, who turned pro a full year before Alcaraz was born. At 37, Gasquet will be contesting in his 73rd Grand Slam main draw and his 17th Australian Open. His best result is the fourth round, which he last reached in 2013.

Alcaraz leads Gasquet 1-0 in their head-to-head, winning their only previous encounter on clay in the finals of the 2021 Croatia Open, 6-2, 6-2. The victory helped Alcaraz win his first of 12 ATP titles.

The world No. 2 was last on court at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to eventual champion Djokovic in the semifinals.

Djokovic will face Gasquet second during Rod Laver Arena's night session on Tuesday.