Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a tough draw at the 2024 cinch Championships, as he prepares to take part in his first tournament since his record-breaking run to the French Open crown. He is set to open his campaign in the British capital against Francisco Cerundolo in the first round on Tuesday, June 18.
The World No. 2 is coming off his third Grand Slam title. He beat the likes of J.J. Wolf, Jeser De Jong, Sebastian Korda, Felix Auger-Alliassime, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jannik Sinner, before taking down fourth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in the summit clash.
In doing so, he also became the youngest man in the Open era at 21 years old to win a Grand Slam, having already won the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon last year.
Eager to continue in that rich vein of form ahead of his Wimbledon defense, we can expect Alcaraz to start with a bang.
Here is all you need to know about his opening encounter at the 2024 cinch Championships:
Where is Carlos Alcaraz playing?
Alcaraz is set to participate in the 2024 cinch Championships in London, United Kingdom. The event comes under the ATP 500 category and is played annually in July the lead-up to the Wimbledon Championships.
Alcaraz has a 5-0 match record at the venue, winning the title on debut. He beat the likes of Arthur Rinderknech, Jiri Lehecka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sebastian Korda, before seeing off Alex de Minaur in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to lift his first-ever title on the grass.
Who is Carlos Alcaraz playing against?
Carlos Alcaraz will open his title defense against world No. 27 Francisco Cerundolo in the first round. He is coming off a five-set epic against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the 2024 French Open. He led much of the match, but a resilient Djokovic showed his class ultimately to seal an emphatic 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Cerundolo has had a sub-par season and holds a 16-16 match record so far. His best result is reaching the last four in Rio and the last eight in Madrid.
Cerundolo and Alcaraz are yet to face off in professional competition, however, and hence their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Francisco Cerundolo match schedule
Alcaraz and Cerundolo are scheduled to face off on Tuesday, June 18. The time, however, will be revealed once the schedule for the day is released.
Date: Tuesday, June 18
Time: TBA
Carlos Alcaraz vs Francisco Cerundolo streaming details
Fans can catch Carlos Alcaraz and Francisco Cerundolo's match-up and the rest of the 2024 cinch Championships on the following channels and sites:
United States - Tennis Channel
United Kingdom - Sky Sports
Canada - TSN & TVA
India - Tennis Channel
For more information regarding the TV schedule, click here.