Carlos Alcaraz aims to conquer milestone set by Nastase, Agassi and Djokovic at Paris Masters

Tennis in 2024 has revolved around the city of Paris. As usual in May when Roland Garros takes place, again these days with the start of the Masters and exceptionally in the summer with the celebration of the Olympic Games.

In spite of having such important tournaments many years ago, it has been quite a feat for the players to be able to lift both trophies in the same year. Only Ilie Nastase, Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic are the only ones to have achieved it. Carlos Alcaraz, reigning French Open champion, will seek to achieve this difficult feat.

The first to reach this milestone in 1973 was Nastase. After winning Roland Garros, where he beat Nikola Pilic, Năstase also took the Paris Masters title by beating Stan Smith in a thrilling five-set final. It would take more than 20 years for another player to achieve the same as the Romanian.

In 1999, American Andre Agassi repeated the feat. That year, he won his first and only title on the Roland Garros clay after coming from behind in a difficult match against Andrei Medvedev. Later, the Las Vegas-born Agassi would become the Paris Masters champion by defeating Marat Safin, thus consolidating his status as one of the true greats of tennis.

The Serb is the only player to have achieved this double victory on more than one occasion. The first was in 2021, when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to lift the Roland Garros trophy and then Daniil Medvedev on the fast courts of Bercy. Not content with that, his second double would come in 2023, when he defeated Casper Ruud in the French Open final and Grigor Dimitrov in the Paris Masters. Djokovic thus distanced himself from his pursuers in this particular challenge.

This year, Carlos Alcaraz is looking to join this exclusive group of champions. With his talent and determination, coupled with the level of play he has shown this year, especially after a disappointing US Open, many are hoping that the Spaniard can make history and add his name to the short list of players who have been able to achieve this impressive feat. The opportunity is in his hands as he prepares to compete in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit.