In Sunday’s Roland Garros final, Carlos Alcaraz targets another glittering milestone that will confirm him as one of the sport’s most complete players.
Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion and already a US Open champion, became the youngest man to reach a Grand Slam final on a third different surface after surviving Jannik Sinner in a four-hour, five-set semifinal.
SINNER: “Next time obviously is going to be different”
Should he go on to hoist the trophy in Paris, he would join an illustrious – and select – list of players who have triumphed on all three Grand Slam surfaces of clay, grass and hard court.
This milestone became possible in 1978, when the US Open relocated to Flushing Meadows and became a hard-court tournament. And it requires a player to win at least three major singles titles, making them an icon of the game even before surface versatility factors into greatness conversations.
Novak Djokovic is the only active player, man or woman, to have won Grand Slam titles on all three major surfaces.
Just eight players – four men, four women – have done so in the “traditional” sense, winning their Slams on the surfaces they are contested on today. Another five – Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander and Hana Mandlikova – won on all three surfaces, but also triumphed at Slams played on a different surface to the current day.
CAREER SURFACE SLAM WINNERS
The fact only 13 players have completed this feat in a period approaching 50 years speaks to the difficulty of the achievement.
And Alcaraz is keenly aware of the milestone he is close to reaching.
“Yeah, I knew that. I mean, I check the phone after the win,” smiled the 21-year-old when asked if he realised he was the youngest player to reach major finals on all surfaces.
13 - Carlos Alcaraz (13) has taken the fewest Major main draws appearances of any player in the Open Era to reach Men’s Singles finals in Grand Slams events on clay, grass and hard court. Expedite.#rolandgarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/Qro56Rj6tg
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 7, 2024
“Honestly, before the final is something that I really don't want to think about, but obviously that means that I'm playing a good tennis in every surface.
“That is something that I really wanted to do when I started in the tour.”
Alcaraz could become the youngest man to complete the career Surface Slam, and the third-youngest player ever behind Steffi Graf and Serena Williams.
At last year’s US Open, Alcaraz came within just two wins of another exceptional surface-related achievement, nearly joining Connors, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe as the only players to win multiple titles on the three surfaces within one season.
He revealed that being mentioned in the same conversation as such tennis legends was fuel as he targeted his first clay-court Grand Slam title.
“I always wanted to be one of the best players in the world,” Alcaraz declared.
“If I want to be one of the best players in the world, I have to be a good player in every surface, like, Roger did, Novak, Rafa, Murray.
“The best players in the world had success in every surface.”
But should Alcaraz wish to succeed in the French capital, he must overcome a bogey opponent to do so.
Alexander Zverev will be his final opponent, after the German overcame Casper Ruud in four sets in Friday’s second semifinal.
This is Zverev’s second major final after a five-set loss in the 2020 US Open decider, and he spoke glowingly of Alcaraz.
“If you're in the final of Roland Garros, you deserve to be there. That goes for him, as well,” Zverev said. “He played a fantastic match today. Played a fantastic tournament in general, I think. I'm expecting a very difficult match.”
He nevertheless has reason to be quietly confident.
Zverev is one of just two players – the other being Medvedev – to have beaten Alcaraz more than once at Grand Slam level. Unlike Medvedev, one of those wins was at Roland Garros, and the second came only a few months ago at AO 2024.
Zverev, the Rome champion, is also one of only five players who hold a winning head-to-head record over Alcaraz, among those who have played him more than once. Zverev has beaten Alcaraz five times in nine career meetings.
No other player in the world has beaten Alcaraz more than four times.
Alcaraz, however, does lead the pair’s head-to-head series on clay (2-1) and will take confidence from that into Sunday’s final.
The fact he’s triumphed twice already in Grand Slam finals – Zverev never has – is another boost for Alcaraz, as is the chance to emulate greats from his country.
“I wanted to put my name on that list of the Spanish players who won this tournament. Not only Rafa. (Also Juan Carlos) Ferrero, (Carlos) Moya, (Albert) Costa, a lot of Spanish players, legends from our sport that won this tournament, I really want to put my name on that list, as well,” said Alcaraz, who is coached by 2003 champion Ferrero.
“I grew up playing on clay but I feel more comfortable playing on hard court, for example. I think my game suits very well to clay season, to the clay court, as well.
“So I just wanted to be a good player in every surface.”
TABLE KEY
* Evert and Navratilova won the career Surface Slam as it could be done today – victories on clay at Roland Garros, grass at Wimbledon and hard at US Open – but both also won Australian Open titles on grass at Kooyong, while Evert also won three US Opens on clay at Forest Hills
^ Wilander and Mandlikova never won Wimbledon, earning their grass-court Slams at the Australian Open. Connors never won Roland Garros, but triumphed on clay at the US Open in 1976. (Connors is the only player to win the US Open title on all three surfaces.)