Sports
Carlos Alcaraz v Alexander Zverev: French Open 2024 men’s singles final – live
Key events
Wow! Tim Henman has bought the aforementioned JP McEnroe a Roland Garros 84 t-shirt – he lost the final to Ivan Lendl from 2-0 up. No doubt Mac can return the favour when they get to SW19 with Wimbledon 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 gear.
Back to our match, our resident coach Calv Betton has some thoughts: “There’s not much tactically to analyse and there’s also a good chance Zverev bottles it with it being the final. Alcaraz will win if he doesn’t feel the pressure again, which I don’t think he will. He’s way too good for Zverev – Zverev only beats him when he goes to pieces as in Australia when I think he was injured, and at RG 2022 when he kept missing mid-court forehands, which he never does.”
Already today: Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova have won the women’s doubles, beating Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini – remember her? – 7-6(5) 6-3.
Preamble
Salut tout le monde and bienvenue à Roland-Garros 2024 – le finale hommes!
2004 feels like a long time ago – partly because the world has changed a lot since then, but mainly because, er … it is? Which makes it all the more mind-boggling that it was also the last time we had a French Open final that didn’t include him, him or him – award yourself the reward of your choice if you immediately thought yes of course, Gastón Gaudio beat Guillermo Coria 8-6 in the fifth after losing the first two sets 0-6 3-6.
And a further treat is all yours if you can recall that the following year, it was Mariano Puerta – yes that’s the Mariano Puerta – losing to 19-year-old debutant Rafael Nadal. Now, though, we’ve an entirely different set of dynastic hopefuls – the Alcaraz-Sinner semi felt like epochal change – two of whom will annihilate themselves for our delectation this afternoon.
Alcaraz is one of the most compelling entertainers our sport has ever seen, a good vibes John McEnroe with joy and love wafting from every pore. But make no mistake: much as we’d all love to cuddle him, he remains an absolute killer, his artist’s imagination backed up by the exhibition viciousness of a ninja’s forehand and and the certainty that when he needs to get it done, he can.
Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, was lucky enough to face “only” Dominic Thiem in his only other major final and went up two sets … then lost in a fifth-set tiebreak. He’s improved a lot since then, though, his first serve and backhand two of the best shots in the game, and retains unbelievable belief in his ability despite a dicky second serve and forehand.
Alcaraz, though, is particularly brilliant with his forehand cross-court and forehand inside-in, shots perfect for attacking his opponent’s weak wing, and if he keeps the head the likelihood is he gets it done. But no player boasting weapons as damaging as Zverev’s can be discounted, so it’s les yeux baissés for what could be the first of many classics.
Play: 2.30pm local, 1.30pm BST
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