When Rafael Nadal was knocked out of the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals on Tuesday night, history was made. Nineteen-year-old Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone in history (since 1973), making him the first teenager to accomplish the feat.
The Spaniard has enjoyed an unforgettable rise in 2022, rising from world No. 32 earlier in the year to the pinnacle of men’s tennis on September 12. That’s the biggest jump to No. 1 in 50 editions of the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Prior to this year, the youngest year-end ATP No. 1 was Lleyton Hewitt, who was 20 years, 275 days when he did so in 2001. Alcaraz will turn 19 years, 214 days on December 5, the year-end rankings year 2022 date after the last ATP Challenger Tour events of the season.
Alcaraz is the 18th Pepperstone-presented year-end ATP No. 1 in history and the first outside the Big Four of Novak Djokovic (7), Roger Federer (5), Nadal (5) and Andy Murray (1) since Andy Roddick in 2003. The 19-year-old joins Nadal (2008, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019) as the Spanish number 1 at the end of the year.
Next Gen ATP Finals champion Intesa Sanpaolo 2021 caused a sensation this year when he became the youngest ATP 500 champion in series history (since 2009) at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The Spaniard followed that victory with his first ATP Masters 1000 win in Miami.
Alcaraz led the Tour with two Masters 1000 crowns (Miami and Madrid) and five overall titles in 2022. In Madrid, he knocked out Nadal, Djokovic and then-World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in back-to-back matches to lift the trophy.
Alcaraz’s biggest title run was at the US Open, where he became the youngest men’s singles winner at the US Major since 19-year-old Pete Sampras in 1990. He is the youngest men’s singles Grand Slam champion since Christmas, 19 years old. at Roland Garros in 2005.
The teenager finished his year with a 57-13 record, including nine wins in 14 games against Top 10 opponents.
