Youngest since Nadal, first teenager since Murray: Carlos Alcaraz cracks top 10
Carlos Alcaraz (ATP No. 11) will appear in the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time from Monday thanks to his semi-finals at the ATP tournament in Barcelona.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Apr 23, 2022, 09:58 am
It was another hotly contested match last night between Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas ! And the 18-year-old Spaniard showed again what he's made of: he already led 6: 4 and 4: 1 (with a double break) and still lost the second round 5: 7 - for many a reason to slump.
Not so for Alcaraz, who ended up winning 6-2 in the final round after Tsitsipas had deducted a few points because of long breaks in front of the service.
Alcaraz in top 10 on Monday!
Another milestone for Alcaraz, he now leads 3-0 in a direct comparison with the Greeks. And will be listed in the top 10 for the first time starting Monday.
And of course there are parallels to Rafael Nadal again: he entered the top 10 on April 25, 2005 as an 18-year-old after winning the title in Barcelona. Alcaraz made his entry into the top 10 clear on April 25, 2022 (it will be official on April 27).
And of course Alcaraz is one of the youngest players ever to make the top 10, especially since the age structure has been increasing in recent years. As reported by ATP, Alcaraz will be the ninth youngest player to crack the top 10, after Aaron Krickstein, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi, Andrei Medvedev and Nadal.
First teenager since Andy Murray
Alcaraz is also the first teenager since Andy Murray in 2007 to crack the top 10 (and 20th overall).
However, it is still too early to celebrate for Alcaraz, in Barcelona the fight for a place in the final is on. Alcaraz meets Alex de Minaur here from 4 p.m.
Already at 1.30 p.m. Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta play against each other.