Carlos Alcaraz becomes youngest top five player since Rafael Nadal

(Tennis news) Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz has become the youngest tennis player to be included in the top 5 of the ATP rankings since Rafael Nadal in 2005. The 19 year old reached the final of Hamburg Open, defeating Slovak Alex Molcan 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 but lost to Italian tennis player Lorenzo Musetti in the finals 6-4 6-7(6) 6-4. Despite the result, Alcaraz has overtaken Norwegian Casper Ruud in the rankings. 

Musetti was in poor form heading into the ATP 500 event as the 20 year old had lost six games before the Hamburg European Open. To make matters worse, the Italian’s rackets were lost and suffered a bout of food poisoning. Speaking after his victory, Musetti said “I arrived here… with all the strikes, one of my luggage (bags) got lost. (It was) the one with the rackets, so I was a little bit worried about how I would play. The night before the start of the matches, I threw up all night. I had food poisoning, so I felt a little bit sick. I didn't expect to go as far as I went, so I'm happy that my luck turned around at this tournament." 

Musetti almost lost the opening match of the Hamburg Open against Serbia's Dusan Lajovic before saving two match points to secure his first tour level victory since May. The Italian was an underdog heading into the finals against Alcaraz as the Spanish teenager had won all five Tour-level finals he had reached. Musetti wasted five championship points in the second set but showed great resilience to make a comeback and secure the win. "For me it's a dream. Obviously, I always dreamed about winning a title and I didn't have any chances before," said Musetti, who rose to a career-high ranking of 31. "It's the first time, so I have no words to describe how it feels. The emotions I had today, I will keep in my heart and my head for a long time." 

Also read: Djokovic to join Nadal, Federer and Murray in Laver Cup team

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