Carlos Alcaraz would prefer Olympic gold to a win at this year’s French Open: “It’s a dream for me to bring gold home to my country”
The Spanish tennis player, who begins his campaign at the ATP Buenos Aires in Argentina on 14 February, has prioritised gold at Paris 2024 over this year's Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.
For Carlos Alcaraz, the answer is clear: if he had to choose between victory in Roland Garros this June or in the Olympic tennis tournament in August, he would choose Olympic gold.
The capital of France hosts the Olympic tennis tournament from 27 July to 4 August in the same iconic stadium of Roland Garros where the French Open final will take place just two months earlier. However, when asked which victory would mean more to him, Alcaraz left little doubt: “It’s a dream for me to bring gold home to my country,” he said.
Competing at the Olympics is one of the main objectives this year for the tennis player who currently sits second in the ATP rankings*.
*
Ahead of his season debut at the ATP Buenos Aires on 14 February, the 20-year-old was asked in a press conference, “What would you prefer to win this year, Roland Garros or the Olympics?”
“I would say the Olympic title. It’s a dream for me to bring gold home to my country Spain. The gold medal is one of the greatest things in sport. I mean, I’d prefer to win Olympic gold this year… even though I’d like to win both, I won’t lie,” the 20-year-old answered with a smile.
Alcaraz has his whole career ahead of him to triumph at the French Open but the Olympic tennis tournament only comes around once every four years. The young tennis star has already won two Grand Slam titles – the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023 – but is yet to make his Olympic debut.
However, while Paris 2024 may be priority number one, that doesn’t mean Alcaraz is not dreaming of another Grand Slam title.
“It makes no difference to me if it’s Roland Garros, Australia or any other Grand Slam. It makes me very excited to win one. At Roland Garros, I already made the semi-finals and hope to improve on this result. I don’t feel like I have to win it, that I have that thorn in me, but it’s a dream to win one,” Alcaraz explained.
What does Carlos Alcaraz have to do to go to Paris 2024?
In order to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic tennis tournament, Alcaraz, as with all tennis players, needs to meet the eligibility criteria outlined by the world governing body, the ITF. One of the criteria, in the case of men’s tennis, is to participate for your nation in the Davis Cup.
In 2023, Alcaraz did not compete in any Davis Cup events due to his physical condition and the need to rest following a busy season. He will, however, have more opportunities in 2024.
As the world number 2, only behind Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz is the highest-ranked player in his country and more than meets the criteria for selection by his National Olympic Committee (NOC).
As NOCs have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.