He had to work for five sets, but Carlos Alcaraz managed the feat of beating Novak Djokovic on the grass of Wimbledon. If the Serb remains the champion with the most beautiful record of world tennis, the Spaniard stands out as the leader of the new generation.
► World No. 1, the youngest in history
With his victory at Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz confirms his first place in the new ATP ranking, published on Monday July 17. This status of world number one, the Spaniard had conquered it the first time in September 2022. He was then 19 years old, 4 months and 6 days old and then became the youngest champion to reach the first place in the ranking.
His progression was as rapid as it was linear. At the end of 2018, the very young Spaniard was around 1,500th place in the world. A year later, he entered the top 500. At the end of 2020, he was 141st, then 32nd at the end of 2021. Before the consecration at the end of 2022 where he ended the year at the top of the ranking.
► 16 years old, the age for his first professional victory
Precocious, Carlos Alcaraz won his first match on the ATP circuit at the age of 16, in 2020. He then spent a round at the Rio de Janeiro tournament, before losing in the next round. Since then, he has recovered well.
The Spaniard won his first professional tournament the following year, at Umag in Croatia, beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the final. Then in 2022 he returns to Rio de Janiero to conquer the title, just as he will do in Miami, Barcelona and Madrid, before offering himself the US Open, his first Grand Slam. This year, he has already won tournaments in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon.
► 4 grass tournaments, two wins
By including Wimbledon on his list after the US Open in 2022, Carlos Alcaraz confirms his status as a contender on all surfaces. His success in London is all the more resounding as the Spaniard was rather expected on clay. He has only played four grass tournaments in all during his professional career. And won the last two, Queen’s and Wimbledon in stride.
The emblematic London tournament also noted the fact that the Spaniard is the first winner ” not to be called Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray” For more than 20 years.
The first man not named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray to win the #Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles since 2002.@CarlosAlcaraz ???? pic.twitter.com/RAzrGluV2q
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 16, 2023
► 9 wins out of 10 in five sets
To win at Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz had to fight five sevens against Novak Djokovic in the final. These long fights do not scare him. They even smile at him very often. Since the start of his career, the Spaniard has been pushed ten times into the fifth set. And he won in nine of these ten confrontations.
His first and only defeat in the fifth set dates back to the beginning of 2022, at the Australian Open 2022, where he lost to Matteo Berrettini. Since then, his arm has not shaken and he even chained three consecutive matches in five sets during his winning run at the last US Open.
► 3.4 million followers on Instagram
New strong man on the court, Carlos Alcaraz is not yet the boss on social networks. Certainly, he looks good with 3.5 million subscribers on Instagram and more than 600,000 on his Twitter account where he did not fail to celebrate his victory.
How it started… How it’s going ???? pic.twitter.com/4iVp7EebWa
– Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) July 17, 2023
The Spaniard remains however still far from having conquered the same notoriety as the “sacred watches” of his sport. Even retired, Roger Federer still has 12 million subscribers on Twitter. But the champion in this field is still and always Rafael Nadal, the model of Alcaraz, who has more than 15 million aficionados.
