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Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have a ripe opportunity to etch their names in the history books by completing the Channel Slam at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The duo was recently crowned Roland Garros champions.
Channel Slam is the combination of winning the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships in the same year. The tennis phenomenon gets its name from the English Channel, which separates France and the United Kingdom. Achieving the Channel Slam is a tough feat, and very few tennis greats have been able to do it.
Several factors make Channel Slam a tough nut to crack. First, the gameplay and the nature of the court on the clay of Paris and the grass of London are completely different. Second, transitioning between the two surfaces is extremely difficult. Moreover, the three-week time frame between the two slams forces the player to speed up the process.
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Rod Laver (1969), Born Borg (1978, 1979, 1980), Rafael Nadal (2008), Roger Federer (2009), and Novak Djokovic (2021) on the men's side and Margaret Court (1970), Billie Jean King (1972) and Chris Evert (1974) on the women's side are the only players to have completed the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have a chance to join the list in 2024.
Carlos Alcaraz has a better shot than Iga Swiatek at completing Channel Slam
Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion at this year's Wimbledon Championships. The Spaniard picked up his maiden grass slam and second Major title in London in 2023 after bettering Novak Djokovic in the summit clash.
Alcaraz was searching for some answers to unlock his potential on the grass courts last year and found them in a resounding fashion. The 21-year-old won his first title on the surface at the 2023 cinch Championships and continued his excellent form at SW19. Playing on grass came naturally to Alcaraz, who showed outstanding court coverage and developed his shot-making to adjust to the surface.
This year, though, Carlos Alcaraz will come to the Wimbledon Championships after failing to defend his title at the cinch Championships. He lost to Brit star Jack Draper in straight sets in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament. While this loss is a setback, Alcaraz is a pre-tournament favorite to defend his title, given his history at the tournament and improved familiarity with the surface.
However, the same cannot be said about the reigning French Open champion on the women's side, Iga Swiatek. The WTA World No. 1 is a beast on the hard court and clay, having won four WTA 1000 titles (Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome) and the clay slam in 2024. However, she does not have the same rhythm on the grass.
Swiatek has historically struggled on the surface and not won any titles so far in her career. The closest she has gotten to silverware is a semifinal finish at the WTA 250 Bad Homburg Open in 2023. At Wimbledon last year, Swiatek faced little trouble ousting Zhu Lin, Sara Sorribes Tormo, and Petra Martic. In the fourth round, she was on the verge of being ousted by Belinda Bencic but managed to survive.
A resurgent Elina Svitolina ended Swiatek's stay in the tournament with a fine performance and denied her a shot at the title. Although the Pole is expected to be one of the favorites for the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2024, she will be realistic about her chances and take each match as it comes.
Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek's projected path to Wimbledon final
Carlos Alcaraz, seeded No. 3, will begin his title defense against Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal. He is projected to face Sebastian Ofner, No. 29 seed Frances Tiafoe, No. 16 seed Ugo Humbert, No. 8 seed Casper Ruud, top seed Jannik Sinner, and No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic en route to the final.
Iga Swiatek is the No. 1 seed and will face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round. She is projected to face Petra Martic, No. 27 seed Katerina Siniakova, No. 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko, No. 6 seed and defending Marketa Vondrousova, No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, and No. 2 seed Coco Gauff en route to the title.
