Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock exit from the 2024 Shanghai Masters earlier this week as he lost to Tomas Machac in straight sets in the quarterfinals 6-4, 7-5. This was the World No. 2’s first defeat to Machac. Alcaraz won their maiden encounter in the Davis Cup in September.
The Spaniard has achieved remarkable success this year, winning four titles, including two Grand Slams, and an Olympic silver medal. In recent months, he has confirmed his participation in four additional tournaments: an exhibition match in Saudi Arabia, the Masters 1000 in Paris later this month, the ATP Finals, and the Davis Cup in November.While the World No. 2 had a great season this year, Shanghai could have given him the chance to face Jannik Sinner and tussle with him for the World No.1 ranking, which is now unlikely with the Italian winning the tournament.
Nevertheless, while Alcaraz lost the chance to finish the year as World No.1, he is now focused on what lies ahead after his heartbreaking Shanghai Masters exit.
What’s next for Carlos Alcaraz in 2024 after Shanghai?
After his loss to Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters, Carlos Alcaraz shared his plans for the remainder of the season and talked about the tournaments he’s now looking to focus on. In the post-match conference, he said (via Tennis Gazette):
“Well, right now I’m going to play the exhibition in Saudi Arabia. I’m going to go there, I’m going to try to play good tennis, and forget I lost. Yeah, then the Masters 1000 in Paris, the ATP Finals, and the Davis Cup, that’s my plan right now. I have to be really, really focused on the next tournaments.”
He added,
“I really want to go farther and get a good result to get as much points as I can, you know, to be closer to Jannik, but, yeah, my plan is those tournaments.”
While Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic to add another trophy to his cabinet, his semifinal win over Daniil Medvedev placed him 3020 points ahead of the Spaniard. This makes it impossible for Alcaraz to overtake the German and replace the latter as the year-end World No.1.
Alcaraz succeeded in getting the better of Sinner in all their previous encounters this year, at Indian Wells, Roland Garros, and Beijing, the last victory as recently as the first week of October. However, even though Alcaraz leads Sinner 6-4 in their head-to-head encounters, Sinner’s ATP points exceed that of Alcaraz’s.The focus for Alcaraz now lies on the next tournaments and playing good tennis.
Reviewing Carlos Alcaraz’s 2024 season including the US Open setback
In 2024, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest tennis player to win a Grand Slam on three different surfaces, an achievement that came for the 21-year-old after his victory at Roland Garros earlier this year, his third Major title. He also this year became the youngest Olympic finalist in the men’s singles, as he won the silver medal at the Paris Games.
His other prominent title wins this year came at Indian Wells, at Wimbledon, where he defended his title by again defeating Novak Djokovic in the final, and the China Open, the last one being a major boost after the Spaniard’s heartbreaking US Open setback, where he lost to Van de Zandschulp in the second round.
After defeat in New York, Alcaraz said he felt he was moving backward. He said (via ATP):
“Right now I feel like I’ve gone backwards mentally and I don’t understand why. I had a spectacular summer at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. I left those tournaments saying that I’d taken a step forward mentally. I’d realized that to win big things, to win Grand Slam titles, you have to be mentally strong.
“And now I’ve reached this swing and I’ve taken steps backwards, like I’m not doing well mentally, I’m not strong. I don’t know how to control myself when faced with problems and I don’t know how to handle it.”
Despite his setbacks, it would not be wrong to say that the 21-year-old World No. 2 still had a strong 2024 season and fans worldwide are now waiting to see how he performs in the remaining tournaments on his schedule.