(Tennis news) Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest World Number 1 in the history of men’s tennis. The 19 year old is also the youngest Grand Slam winner since his compatriot and idol Rafael Nadal won the French Open in 2005. Born in Murcia, Alcaraz’s father was an academy director and the youngster began playing at an academy run by Spain's former French Open champion and world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, who went on to become his coach. 

Since his debut at the Rio Open, Alcaraz went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of 2021, broke into the top 20 in World Rankings in February, became the youngest ATP 500 event winner by winning the Rio Open, won his first Masters title at the Miami Open by becoming the youngest men’s champion. If that wasn’t all, Alcaraz then went on to win another ATP 500 event: the Barcelona Open and became the youngest player to break into the top 10 since, you guessed it right, Rafael Nadal in 2005. 

In May, Alcaraz won the Madrid Open for his second Masters 1000 crown, becoming the tournament’s youngest champion and then became the second youngest player in the 21st century to break into the top 5 in World Rankings since Rafael Nadal. He was the youngest man to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open last year and this time around, he did much better and won the Grand Slam title. The Spaniard earned more than $9m (£7.8m) in prize money due to his impressive performances.

Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero said “I think he's on 60% of his game. He can improve a lot of things. He knows and I know that we have to keep working. To get to the number once, it's not done. They like to be aggressive from the baseline and they can go to the net to finish the point.” His countryman Rafael Nadal has described him as “When you make a salad and you are putting ingredients inside the salad, he has plenty of ingredients to become a great player." 

In ATP’s 49 year old history, Carlos Alcaraz at the age of 19 years and four months is the youngest number 1, beating Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who was 20 years and nine months old. His meteoric rise is nothing short of astounding as he was ranked 55th just a year ago and entered the top 100 in May 2021. Only four players have shared the World Number 1 ranking in 18 years, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray and the inclusion of Alcaraz amongst those greats is an indication that a future superstar is beginning to make his mark in the history of the sport. Only time will tell if the 19 year old can surpass Nadal’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles but as things stand, it’s more than a realistic possibility for that to happen.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz wins maiden Grand Slam title and becomes World Number 1