Carlos Alcaraz became the first adolescent to ever reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings by winning the tournament, which saw him rise to No. 1.
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Carlos Alcaraz has been compared to some of the most renowned tennis players in history ever since he first joined the ATP tour, including his fellow countryman and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. The young adolescent from Spain rose to the challenge to earn one of the most lucrative titles in the sport – the youngest ATP World No. 1 in history – as the tennis community began to wonder whether any new players could set records in the sport. Without a doubt, Carlos Alcaraz’s career has risen rapidly. When the teenage player faced up against his countryman Nadal at the 2021 Madrid Open on his 18th birthday, he attracted attention. The young Spaniard dropped the match, but it didn’t deter him from aiming high. Alcaraz went on to win his maiden championship at the Umag Open and recorded his best Grand Slam performance at the time by making it to the 2021 US Open quarterfinals. Alcaraz won the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November of that same year. His true breakthrough, nevertheless, occurred in 2022.
At the Rio Open, Alcaraz won a second tour-level championship. In addition, the young man from Murcia, who won the Miami Masters at the age of 18, was unstoppable as he destroyed every challenger he encountered. He quickly rose to the top 10, then at the Barcelona Open, he won his fourth career crown, an ATP 500. But a few weeks later, at the 2022 Madrid Open, he reversed the tables to win back-to-back matches against tennis greats Nadal and Djokovic in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. This victory was his most emphatic championship triumph to date. He maintained his impressive form to defeat Alexander Zverev, the incumbent champion, in the final and win his second Masters trophy. His success led to his overtaking Rafael Nadal, who had previously won the French Open 13 times, as the second favourite to win the tournament. Although Alcaraz was unable to achieve his goals—he lost to Zverev in the quarterfinals and then saw a minor decline in form—he maintained his resolve at the 2022 US Open and won his first Grand Slam championship as well as the top spot in the global rankings with 6740 points. With five titles won from seven finals, he is the male player in 2022 with the most titles and final appearances.
Carlos Alcaraz triumphed at the 2022 US Open to win his maiden Grand Slam championship. The 19-year-old also made history by becoming the ATP rankings’ youngest world number one. Alcaraz’s previous career-high ranking was No. 4, but he has taken all the proper steps this year to advance and establish himself as Spain’s upcoming tennis star. Alcaraz, who ranks fourth among male Spanish players after Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya, and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, is the first teenager to hold the top spot in the world rankings. Since Pete Sampras in 1990, Alcaraz, who is 19 years old and 129 days, has won the men’s US Open. He also holds the record for being the seventh-youngest male or female player to ever win a Grand Slam. Twenty of the previous 22 major championships had been won by Nadal, Roger Federer, or Djokovic prior to that triumph. This year, Djokovic and Federer did not play at Flushing Meadows.
| Player | Age |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 19 years 4 months |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 20 years, 9 months |
| Marat Safin | 20 years, 10 months |
| John McEnroe | 21 years, 1 month |
| Andy Roddick | 21 years, 2 months |
Consider Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old. As the youngest-ever No. 1 men’s tennis player in history, he defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud in the 2022 U.S. Open to win his maiden major championship. The Spaniard is renowned for both his versatility in shooting angles, which range from drop shots to lobs, as well as his ability to roam around the court and chase down balls. He doesn’t have a reputation for serving, despite having a respectable serve—you can’t reach the peak without one. But when Ruud, 23, got himself in a position to break Alcaraz late in the match, Alcaraz, who has been a champion for two years, used his serve to wrestle control of the title. It appeared as though the younger man was accessing some secret strength. Alcaraz must have been exhausted because he had already surpassed the record for the most time on the court during a US Open—23 hours and 20 minutes in all of his matches. In the fourth set, he had a 4-3 lead, but he was losing the game 0-30. After making it 15-30 with a forehand winner, Alcaraz swung a 123 mph ace right up the T, followed by a shot wide of Ruud’s forehand, to gain the advantage and subsequently hold.
Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero believes that Carlos Alcaraz still has a ways to go before reaching the full extent of his potential. The former world number Ferrero feels his charge is far from the final product and may even surpass the grandeur of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal despite that huge accomplishment following his first Major victory at the US Open. After the final in New York, Ferrero told reporters, “I think he’s on 60% of his game.” He has a lot of room for improvement. Both he and I are aware that our efforts must continue. Once you reach number one, you leave since it isn’t finished. To continue winning in those tournaments, you must maintain putting in a lot of effort and playing extremely well.
“I want to get him to play tennis at the greatest level. Of course, I believe it will be really impossible to duplicate [the Big Three’s] success in tennis. There have been 22 Grand Slams, so far. He just has one. There is still plenty to do. But who can say? He has all the talent and potential to be among the best, in my opinion. All we need to do is give it a shot. Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam at a younger age than the Big Three—he was just four months older than Nadal was in 2005 when he won the French Open—than both Federer (21) and Djokovic (20). Alcaraz himself finds it hard to believe that he has defeated all three of them as well as all 24 other former ATP number ones to take the top place at such a young age.
