Weeks after being eliminated from the Australian Open, Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz, number 2 in the world rankings, returns to action as the top seed at the Buenos Aires ATP 250, the second tournament on the South American clay court tour.
Alcaraz started the season directly at the Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals, a stage in which he was defeated by German Alexander Zverev.
The player from Murcia will arrive in Buenos Aires this Sunday with the premise of defending the title he won last year, when he defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie (19th) in the final match, before heading to Brazil to seek the title at the Rio de Janeiro ATP 500.
His rival in the 2023 final is back as the second seed.
In his first tournament on the clay tour, the young Spaniard’s mission will be to return to the final after months without playing that instance.
The last time the Spaniard played a final was in Cincinnati, when he fell to Novak Djokovic. The Serb, the all-time leader in Grand Slam titles with 24, suffered at the hands of the player from Murcia on the Wimbledon grass in 2023, weeks before overcoming him in the United States.
Alcaraz’s path in Buenos Aires 2024 starts in the second round against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas or a rival emerging from qualifying.
South American legion on the prowl
In Buenos Aires, Norrie will be on the lookout and willing to erase the bitterness of his elimination in Australia – the first Grand Slam of the season – also against Zverev, in the round of 16.
The Briton seeks to steer the course after an irregular 2023, which started in good shape, with a title in Rio – where he beat, precisely, Alcaraz – but ended with nine losses in his last eleven matches.
In the third rung looms the Chilean Nicolás Jarry (20th), winner last year of the Santiago, Chile and Geneva tournaments, both on clay courts, while behind is an Argentine trio made up of Francisco Cerúndolo (22nd), Sebastián Báez (26th) and Tomás Martín Etcheverry (29th), looking to shine on home soil.
The Buenos Aires ATP will also feature the return of Swiss Stan Wawrinka, currently 57th in the world and who was runner-up in the 2013 series. Also present will be Frenchman Arthur Fils (36th), the new man to follow in French tennis, who arrives ready to battle in the sweltering February of Buenos Aires, far from the European indoor winter tour.
Accustomed to hosting big names, in addition to Alcaraz, the Argentine Open has also seen tournament wins by Norwegian Casper Ruud in 2020 and 2022, Argentine Diego Schwartzman in 2021, Austrian Dominic Thiem in 2016 and 2018, and Rafael Nadal in 2015, among other standouts.
