Carlos Alcaraz is the two-time defending champion in Madrid

All eyes will be on Carlos Alcaraz when he takes to court at the Madrid Open.

The star attraction at the tournament, we haven’t seen Alcaraz on clay this season after his withdrawal from both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.

Having lost ground to Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner in the ATP Rankings, he will be looking for a strong title defence as he seeks to stay in touch.

With his opening match at the event now confirmed, we analyse the huge success he has had in Madrid – and what history could beckon in 2024.

Who will he play?

All 32 seeds receive an opening-round bye in Madrid, meaning Alcaraz will not be playing until the second round – with his opening match at the tournament likely to be on Friday.

And the 20-year-old now knows he will take on Alexander Shevchenko later this week.

World No 59 Shevchenko – who now represents Kazakhstan after switching citizenship from Russia – overcame Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to progress to the second round.

It will be the first meeting between the two, with Alcaraz a hot favourite to progress with his fitness issues seemingly behind him.

Staggering Madrid win record

Alcaraz has played his home Masters 1000 event three times and has won the title the past two years, with a hugely impressive overall win-loss record of 12-1 at the tournament.

That amounts to a staggering win rate of 92%, with his only loss coming on his event debut in 2021 – losing to Rafael Nadal on his 18th birthday.

His form in Madrid is significantly above what he has been able to produce across all the Masters 1000 events so far in his burgeoning career, with a (still impressive) 77% win rate at this level.

And, with this year’s men’s singles final set to fall on his 21st birthday, he has the chance to create a much happier birthday memory this year.

 

Caja Magica history?

Alcaraz has already achieved so much in Madrid, despite only playing the tournament three times.

He is just one of five men – joining Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev – to win the tournament multiple times since it switched to clay in 2009.

And he and Nadal are the only players since then to complete a successful defence of the title, with Alcaraz going back-to-back the last two years and Nadal achieving that in 2013-14.

But he has the chance to make his own history, should he triumph this year.

The world No 3 would emulate Nadal by becoming just the second man to win the tournament three times on clay, but would also become the first person to win the event three times in a row.

Having missed out on attempting a ‘threepeat’ in Barcelona, he will surely be determined to right that wrong in his home capital city.