Zverev, Alcaraz’s archenemy, stands in the way of Alcaraz’s gloomy French Open triumph.

Great tennis careers don’t come without hardship. Carlos Alcaraz broke age records when he first joined the ATP tour, winning his first major at the US Open and then topping that victory with a stunning win at Wimbledon last year.

However, the 11 months since that last victory have been filled with various difficulties.

Alcaraz has been sidelined by multiple injuries as his body has attempted to keep up with his incredible intensity and athleticism.

This includes a sprained ankle that happened one game into his match at the Rio Open this year and a right forearm injury that severely damaged his clay season, forcing him to withdraw from events in Monte Carlo, Rome, and Barcelona.

He had only participated in four matches during the clay season when he arrived at the French Open.

Even when Alcaraz has been well enough to compete, things haven’t always gone according to plan.

The challenge lies in selecting the appropriate shot when one is gifted with a diverse game style and ability to hit numerous types of shots.

Alcaraz has played erratic tennis, hitting himself off the court with wild unforced errors and failing to adjust when things aren’t working, which has led to a flurry of tough losses.

Alcaraz has only won one championship since his victory at Wimbledon.

Adversity is an opportunity to grow for the best players. Alcaraz demonstrated his exceptional learning ability once again on Friday against Jannik Sinner.

He adjusted his game after getting off to such a slow start. He did not panic when he was down two sets to one.

In sharp contrast to a year ago, when Alcaraz’s full-body cramps were so severe that they prevented him from competing well in the final two sets of his match against Djokovic, he even managed to control and conceal his nervous cramps.

Alcaraz’s increasing maturity has been evident in his run to the final, and he enters his first Roland Garros final with enormous expectations.

Alcaraz has another chance to strengthen his case as the next great player—none of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, or Roger Federer have appeared in a French Open final in the past 20 years.

With his victories at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Wimbledon, Alcaraz is now the youngest male player to reach grand slam finals on all three surfaces.

He will look to win his third major title and join the elite group of three-time champions, which also includes Andy Murray, Arthur Ashe, Stan Wawrinka, Gustavo Kuerten, and Jan Kodes.

Even though Alcaraz is the favorite on Sunday, this will be a very difficult task. The Spaniard’s early career matches against Alexander Zverev have provided a wealth of information about both his strengths and weaknesses.

As this will be their tenth encounter, the German Alcaraz will be facing the most opponents at the ATP level.

Despite the fact that Zverev won two of his matches in 2021 when Alcaraz was still getting used to the circuit, it is noteworthy that Zverev has a 5-4 head-to-head record against the Spaniard.

Alcaraz has won four matches, all of which were decided in straight sets and were incredibly one-sided.

He completely outplayed Zverev in baseline exchanges, exposed his deep-court positioning with drop shots and net play, and feasted on his opponent’s second serve in each of these displays of brilliance.

However, Alcaraz has experienced long nights whenever he has entered a match even a little bit off his game, as he did in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open this year and at the French Open in 2022.

Zverev’s serve has greatly improved since he lowered his ball toss this year; even though it was explosive in the past, it frequently resulted in double faults.

However, Alcaraz has experienced long nights whenever he has entered a match even a little bit off his game, as he did in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open this year and at the French Open in 2022.

Zverev’s serve has greatly improved since he lowered his ball toss this year; even though it was explosive in the past, it frequently resulted in double faults.

In addition to being a formidable server, he has also unsettled Alcaraz with his high first-serve percentage in victories over him and occasionally frustrated him with his neat counterpunching tennis.

Zverev has been making waves at this particular tournament, having won four Masters 1000 titles on clay and advanced to four straight semi-finals in Paris.

He is frequently more motivated to defeat the player who seems to have assumed the role of heir apparent because he was once heralded as the heir apparent.

Alcaraz has already put forth a great deal of work to get to this final. Along with the progress he has made during his run, his injury has prevented him from having the best possible preparation, yet he has still managed to find his way. He will now attempt to battle Zverev.

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