Carlos Alcaraz's season has been exceptional for a player of only 21 years old. However, the Spanish champion is not a player like any other and expectations are very high. The former world No. 1 became the youngest ever to win the French Open and Wimbledon Championships in the same year, demonstrating a versatility that has very few equals in the history of the sport.
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The 4-time Grand Slam champion defeated Novak Djokovic in London for the second year in a row, triumphing at Church Road thanks to an impressive performance in the final. The former world No. 1 also won the Indian Wells Masters 1000 confirming the 2023 title, the ATP 500 in Beijing and the silver medal at the Paris Olympics during the summer.
At the same time, Carlitos had some pretty bad moments during the season. The 21-year-old from Murcia was affected by a forearm injury during the spring and was greatly affected by the loss to Nole in the final of the Olympic tournament.
Alcaraz was eliminated in the second round at the US Open and admitted that he lost the desire to play during that time, before recovering it thanks to the Davis Cup and the Laver Cup. The current world number 3 has had a lackluster last part of the season, having achieved disappointing results at both the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
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Paul Annacone on Alcaraz's season
The Spanish champion knows where he needs to improve in view of the start of next season, in which he will have to try to be more consistent by avoiding ups and downs. Only greater regularity will allow him to return to the top of the ATP ranking.
Although Carlitos is already a great champion, it will not be easy for him to overtake Jannik Sinner either, who is going through the best moment of his entire career. The Italian ace is almost 5000 points ahead of the Spaniard, thanks to a win rate that exceeds 90% in 2024.
On the latest edition of the Inside-In podcast, former Roger Federers coach Paul Annacone commented on Alcarazs 2024 season: You have to find what motivates you and stick with it. And I think Carlos Alcaraz is a joyful player. I think this year he lost a little bit of that joy, for a multitude of reasons.
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I think one of his greatest accomplishments was one of the biggest obstacles he had to overcome this year, which was getting only a silver medal.
Thats a great accomplishment, but I think it broke his heart a little bit at the Olympics, and I think it messed him up a little bit for the rest of the summer.
He continued: "I thought he recovered when he won in Beijing, but he's had a couple of losses since then and got sick before the year-end championship. So, it's been a little choppy for him, but he has such a good head on his shoulders and a great team around him. There's no reason that that's not going to be just a blip
After winning the Beijing ATP 500 by defeating Sinner in a beautiful final, Carlitos struggled to play his best tennis in the last tournaments of the season. The former world No. 1 was eliminated by Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, lost to Ugo Humbert in the round of 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters and did not reach the semifinals at the ATP Finals (due to a flu virus). The atmosphere of the Davis Cup didn't help him either, as his Spain suffered a shocking quarter-final elimination against Netherlands.
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A little break
The young Spaniard will now enjoy a holiday period to recover energy after a very tough season, in which there were also the Olympics. The world number 3 is not expected to play official tournaments before the Australian Open, in which he will try to win the fifth Major title of his career.
Due to the bad results obtained in the last tournaments of 2024, Alcaraz will be the number 3 seed in Melbourne and may have to face Sinner in the semifinals. The 4-time Grand Slam champion will prepare in Spain together with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. During the pre-season, the 21-year-old from Murcia will also do some practice sessions with young Briton Jack Draper, who reached the semifinals at the US Open this year.
The former world No. 1 will try to further improve his serve, which is not yet very effective on the fastest surfaces. The 21-year-old from Murcia admitted that he still needs to improve on this fundamental, but he has a lot of time at his disposal.
