Carlos Alcaraz may be out of the Australian Open but it’s not all doom and gloom for the Spaniard. After reaching the quarter-finals of the Melbourne major he is now set to be inducted into the exclusive Final 8 Club.
The club provides members with lifetime access to Australian Open credentials for themselves and a guest — as well as additional tickets and tournament transportation. Each of the Grand Slam events has a version of the Final 8 Club and Alcaraz is now a part of all four of them after recording his deepest run at the Australian Open to date.
Other tennis stars that have met the criteria for the Australian Open Final 8 Club in 2024 include Hubert Hurkacz, who hadn’t progressed past the fourth round as a singles or doubles competitor until this year, and Zheng Qinwen, who was dumped out in round two in her previous two visits.
Alcaraz had been among the favourites to scoop the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup but he was denied a place in the last four by Alexander Zverev. Despite a spirited comeback down the home straight, a dismal start cost Alcaraz dearly as he fell to 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 defeat.
Speaking after the match, he said: “It has been a good tournament for me, making the quarter-finals, playing good tennis. I’m sad with my level today, because I have been playing good tennis in the rounds before this one, with a lot of confidence.
“Serving pretty well. I didn’t show this good level of serving that I was showing before this match. But in general I leave the tournament happy. Forgetting about today’s level. I think I did a pretty good tournament.
“I played great matches and obviously quarter-final of a Grand Slam is good. It is not what I’m looking for, but it is not bad. [Reaching the] quarter-finals is a good run.”
Zverev is now set to face Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals on Friday morning, at around 8.30am UK time. By the time they step onto the court, they should know who the winner is set to face in the final with the other semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner being contested five hours earlier at 3.30am.