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Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer
PARIS — There will be a new name on the Roland Garros men’s singles trophy on Sunday as Carlos Alcaraz takes on Alexander Zverev in the 2024 French Open final.
Alcaraz has already won the US Open and Wimbledon, so victory on Sunday would complete a trio of Slams on each surface. For Zverev, this is his second Grand Slam final, having lost the US Open final to Dominic Thiem in 2020.
For so long this trophy was in Rafael Nadal’s grip — the Spaniard winning the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy 14 times. Novak Djokovic has won it three times here, with Roger Federer taking it in 2009. But there’s a new generation coming through and for so long, Alcaraz has been the coming man on clay.
He reached the quarterfinal here in 2022 — losing to Zverev — and then the semifinal last year, where he fell to Djokovic. Last year his performance was hampered by severe cramping, but that’s something he’s learned to manage. He came into the French Open with concerns over his right arm, an injury that saw him miss some of the clay court swing. In the opening rounds, by his own admission, he couldn’t go 100% on his forehand, but as the rounds have tumbled, Alcaraz’s durability has improved.
He’s managed to see off the likes of Sebastian Korda, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his journey to the final four, where he met incumbent world No.1 Jannik Sinner. Both players cramped up in that semifinal, but after five sets, it was Alcaraz who came through.
“You have to find the joy in suffering, that’s the key,” he said after the win over Sinner.
For Zverev, his journey started with the hardest possible task: facing Nadal in the first round. He came through that in straight sets and then saw off David Goffin but needed five sets to dispatch Tallon Griekspoor and Holger Rune. But he was in ruthless form against Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and then came through a tricky tie with Casper Ruud in the semifinal.
“Some of my worst and best memories are on [Philippe Chatrier] and I’m going to give it my all on Sunday,” Zverev said.
While Zverev has been playing at Roland Garros, a trial was being held in his home country of Germany, where he had been accused of domestic abuse by a former girlfriend. On Friday, it was announced that Zverev had agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the woman.