Alexander Zverev vs Carlos Alcaraz Preview & Prediction | 2024 French Open | Men’s Final
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Carlos Alcaraz is aiming to maintain his perfect record so far in Grand Slam finals whilst Alexander Zverev aims for redemption having missed out at the business end so many times before.
START DATE/TIME: Sunday 9th June 2024, UK – not before 13:30 / US EST – not before 08:30 / US PST – not before 05:30
VENUE: Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France
SURFACE: Outdoor clay
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Eurosport / US – NBC, Peacock and Tennis
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ / US – NBC, Peacock and Tennis
TICKETS: Visit this link for the latest Alexander Zverev vs Carlos Alcaraz ticket information
ALEXANDER ZVEREV – First Roland-Garros final, 2020 US Open runner-up
World number four Alexander Zverev came back from a set down to beat Casper Ruud in four on Friday but the match was clearly over after two sets as his opponent struggled with a debilitating stomach illness. 27-year-old Zverev is through to his first Roland-Garros final to break a tough run of three semi-finals lost on the spin here in Paris, with 2022’s horrid ankle injury still fresh in the memory in a match with eventual champion Rafael Nadal he might well have won.
Zverev took the first two sets from Dominic Thiem in the US Open final in 2020 but capitulated drastically to let the Austrian back in, in much the same way he lost his semi-final to Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in January. The German leads Carlos Alcaraz 5-4 in their head-to-head and 2-1 at Grand Slams, including a four-set victory here in the quarter-finals two years ago.
CARLOS ALCARAZ – First Roland-Garros final, two-time Grand Slam champion
World number three Carlos Alcaraz has improved with each passing round at Roland-Garros, from a poor second round edge-through against Jesper de Jong to a sublime fight back against incoming number one Jannik Sinner in five sets on Friday.
The 21-year-old’s era-defining Wimbledon title last summer came in a similar way, with the Spaniard riding the crest of a wave through to a five-set all-time classic over four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, and he has won each of his two Grand Slam finals so far to look the favourite on experience.
Alcaraz handily beat Alexander Zverev en-route to his Indian Wells title in March and he leads 2-1 on clay with wins over the German in consecutive Madrid Masters; beating Zverev to the title in 2022 and in the round of 16 last year.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV VS CARLOS ALCARAZ PREDICTION
This should be a thrilling contest on Sunday between the form player coming into Paris, with Alexander Zverev currently riding a 12-match winning streak on clay after winning the Italian Open, and the form player at Roland-Garros, as Carlos Alcaraz has duly become.
21-year-old Alcaraz found some of his ebullient superpowers against rival Jannik Sinner in another classic between the two on Friday, twice coming back from a set down with barely-concealed grins to his box. The Spaniard has total belief in his abilities and the vast majority of the Roland-Garros crowd will get behind him fully here, not just because of his likeness, in some respects, to Rafael Nadal but also because of the speculation that continues to embroil his opponent.
Alexander Zverev has played an inordinate amount of five set matches in his career, in part due to how young he found himself competing at the top of the sport and in part due to something of a lapse in concentration, something akin to self-doubt, that was all-too apparent in his semi-final against Daniil Medvedev. The German’s trial may have been discontinued in Berlin but the story will not go away, especially now with no definitive ending and his refusal to comment on the matter, and coming into a clash with Alcaraz’s 100% record in major finals is no place for a cluttered mind.
Zverev has a 50% win-rate in tour finals (22-11) but two of his most important matches at this level were lost from two sets up, whilst Alcaraz’s superior 13-4 record in finals includes winning the US Open and Wimbledon at the first time of asking, the latter coming against the greatest champion the sport has ever seen last summer at Wimbledon. Back Alcaraz to lift his third Grand Slam title at 21 years old - just as Rafael Nadal did here at Roland-Garros in 2007.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV VS CARLOS ALCARAZ TIP: CARLOS ALCARAZ TO WIN
