Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev have crafted their way to the French Open 2024 finals and deservedly so. While both superstars have played some incredible tennis over the past two weeks, Alcaraz will be more confident of his chances at lifting the La Coupe des Mousquetaires than Zverev.
Yes, the German leads 5-4 in their head-to-head battle. However, Alcaraz has been the more successful player among the two on clay. While Zverev has an incredible 73% win rate on the surface, the 21-year-old has a better (80%) win rate. Additionally, the Spaniard has also won 2 out of the three matches that they’ve played against each other on the outdoor clay surface so far.
Let’s take a look at each of the three duels they’ve had on the clay court surface –
Carlos Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev at Madrid Open 2022 final
Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev had their first encounter on clay at the Madrid Open 2022. Zverev, being the defending champion, was the one favored to emerge victorious. However, the El Palmar native went on to put up his best performance in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament and demolish Sascha 6-3, 6-1 to clinch the title.
Alexander Zverev beat Carlos Alcaraz at French Open 2022 quarterfinals
The two would meet again during the same clay court season. Merely 23 days after their duel at the Caja Magica, Zverev managed to redeem himself with a four-set win at the quarterfinals of the French Open 2022.
However, the four-set victory wasn’t an easy one for the top-ranked German. After a double 6-4 start in the first two sets, Zverev dropped the third set and was forced to play the tie-break in the fourth set.
Despite his run at the French Open coming to an end, the then 19-year-old impressed the tennis world by displaying an incredible amount of resilience.
Alcaraz upset Zverev for the second consecutive time in the Madrid Open
Alexander Zverev sustained a horrific ankle injury during the French Open 2022. However, he managed to make a return by the 2023 clay court season.
Alcaraz didn’t show any mercy to him in their third encounter on clay. The Madrid Open 2023 contest lasted only 83 minutes as the youngster clinched a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win.
Apart from their head-to-head encounters, Alcaraz will also fancy his chances considering the fact that he’s dropped fewer sets than Zverev throughout the tournament – time spent on the court has been a huge factor in previous Grand Slams.
However, Zverev overcoming more top 15 players than Carlos on their way to the finals will help boost his morale.
