Health, fitness & emotional fragility: Carlos Alcaraz is still learning to balance life on and off the court

Looking back, looking forward. With the 2024 ATP season in the books, Joel Drucker has nine notable storylines to consider over the next few weeks—before the next year of men's tennis begins. (On mobile devices, scroll down to read more ATP takeways; on desktop, you'll see additional entires on the left side of your screen.)

Win one Slam singles and it’s a great year. Win two and it’s magnificent. Such was the case for Carlos Alcaraz in 2024 – even though he ended the year ranked third.

The dazzling Spaniard’s title runs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon made him the youngest man in tennis history to earn the clay-grass double. Recall that at Roland Garros in ’23, Alcaraz left the court exhausted while losing in the semis to Novak Djokovic.

This year in Paris, Alcaraz was fit, focused, and formidable, most notably when he won back-to-back five-setters at the end, first versus Sinner in the semis, then over Alexander Zverev in the final.

Alcaraz’s title defense at Wimbledon was equally impressive, capped off by a sparkling win over Novak Djokovic. But there were also new signs of emotional fragility from Alcaraz, including a broken racquet in Cincinnati.

As for those concerns that surface about Alcaraz’s intermittent injuries and appetite for trying a wide range of highlight reel shots, my reply: he will in time figure out the health and fitness piece. And when it comes to the Alcaraz array, that is precisely how a champion develops and learns to deploy an arsenal.

If you don’t try those shots in the second round, how are you going to feel confident enough to hit them in the semis? As basketball great Steph Curry’s three-point shooting has proven, it’s not reckless if you own it. Bonus career extension: Alcaraz even smiles when his opponents hit great shots.