After winning the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz, 19, becomes the male ATP world No. 1 at the youngest age ever.
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On Sunday, 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.
He did this by defeating Casper Ruud at Flushing Meadows with scores of 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), and 6-3. Ruud would have been No. 1 if he had triumphed. Throughout his US Open run, Alcaraz put on several mind-blowing performances, including gripping five-set matches against Jannik Sinner and Frances Tiafoe.
Alcaraz stated during the news conference, “I would say I somewhat overcame myself.” “Yeah, I played some amazing, high-intensity matches during the last two weeks, which I’ve never done before.”
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, Federer, or Djokovic prior to that triumph. This year, Djokovic and Federer did not play at Flushing Meadows.
Although Alcaraz has been improving for some time, this season has been a turning point for him. At the 2022 Australian Open, where he made it to the third round, he received a Grand Slam seeding for the first time.
Alcaraz entered the Madrid Open final as the youngest player in history shortly after becoming 19 years old. On the way, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals the day after his birthday. He then defeated top seed and former world No. 1 Djokovic in the semifinals, becoming the youngest player to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic on clay.
Ruud missed out on the top spot, but his performance in the US Open was nevertheless recognized for his efforts. On Monday, the Norwegian 23-year-old climbed as high as No. 2 in his career. Nadal was able to hold onto the No. 3 spot after losing to Tiafoe in the round of 16. While Tiafoe became the first American man to reach the semifinals since 2006 and earned a career-high No. 19 ranking, he was unable to snap the Americans’ lengthy drought without a Grand Slam championship in a men’s competition.
