Much of the clay-court season this year had been a miserable experience for Carlos Alcaraz. He missed three of his four planned tournaments with a forearm injury and was hampered in the one event he did play. His fitness struggles raised further questions about whether his body can withstand the pressure his all‐action playing style imposes on it and he arrived at Roland Garros without much match practice or rhythm.
It takes a special talent to enter a major tournament with such disjointed preparation yet still be able to overcome every obstacle and find a way through to the other side. During five messy but increasingly dramatic sets the Spaniard kept his head, and he recovered from a loss of momentum in the third set to defeat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to win his first French Open title. By triumphing in Paris, Alcaraz has now mastered every surface by the age of 21, winning on the hard courts of the US Open in 2022, the lawns of Wimbledon in 2023 and now on the red clay of Roland Garros.
He is the youngest man in history to win a major on all surfaces, a record held previously by Rafael Nadal at 22 years old and a feat that has been achieved by only seven players. Now a three-time grand slam champion, he moves level with Arthur Ashe, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Gustavo Kuerten. This 2024 tournament will be remembered also for Zverev being in the midst of a public trial in Berlin for allegedly physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Brend.
