Carlos Alcaraz has had a fairly successful 2024 season, which had two Grand Slams and an Olympic medal win. He’d like to cap off this memorable year by winning the ATP Finals 2024. There’s even an added motivation for Alcaraz to fare well in the year-end tournament as he hopes to redeem himself following a humiliating loss against Novak Djokovic in the previous edition of the event.
Djokovic defeating Alcaraz in the semifinal of the ATP Finals 2023 in itself wasn’t shocking. But the 3-6, 2-6 scoreline made this loss far more embarrassing.
As much as he would’ve despised reminiscing about the forgettable night, the Spaniard opened up about the loss during a recent interview. The 21-year-old simply put that he hadn’t ever found his groove in the tournament.
“Last year was a difficult end of the year for me. I could not play at my best… Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches,” Alcaraz said.
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The El Palmar native witnessed a dip in his game towards the tail end of the 2023 season, failing to lift any silverware after Wimbledon. Additionally, Alcaraz also suffered losses against players ranked outside of the top 10, i.e. to Tommy Paul, Grigor Dimitrov, and Roman Safiullin. Hence, the straight-sets loss to Djokovic was not as surprising.
One might argue that Alcaraz is having an even worse end to the 2024 season than the previous campaign. However, revealing to have a different approach to the game will keep his fans encouraged.
Alcaraz is far more motivated entering the ATP Finals 2024
Jannik Sinner is heavily favored to lift the Nitto ATP Finals Singles Trophy in Turin. Majorly because of Alcaraz’s subpar performance since the conclusion of the Olympics.
Yes, Alcaraz did win the Beijing Open 2024. But losses against World No.46 Gael Monfils, World No.74 Botic Van de Zandschulp, World No.33 Tomas Machac, and World No.18 Ugo Humbert have led to the youngster taking a fall in the ATP rankings. It has also harmed his odds of winning the prestigious event.
Alcaraz has managed to get over these concerning losses as he approaches the ATP Finals 2024 with a lot more motivation.
“I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far… I am coming here with a lot of motivation,” Alcaraz said.
Potential semifinal matchups against Jannik Sinner or Daniil Medvedev could hamper his quest to lift the trophy. But Alcaraz wouldn’t be worrying about the future just yet. Instead, he will focus on defeating Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, and Casper Ruud, to finish #1 in the John Newcombe Group. Alcaraz plays Ruud first up on Sunday, November 9 not before 9 AM ET. US fans can get to watch the match LIVE on Tennis Channel.
