Carlos Alcaraz guaranteed to end 2022 as world number 1, the youngest in history, after the elimination of Nadal

He may well be the great absentee from this Turin Masters, Carlos Alcaraz is one of the big winners. This Tuesday, Rafael Nadal’s loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime combined with the loss of the first set by Taylor Fritz against Casper Ruud confirmed that the hierarchy at the top of the ATP rankings would not move by the end of the year. On the top step, Carlos I, guaranteed to finish 2022 in his world number one suit at just 19 years and six months. He is the youngest in history to achieve this achievement.

Before this Masters, only Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsistipas could deprive the Spanish prodigy of a dearly acquired throne. Rafa had to go to the end, or at least in the final, while the Greek had to win all his matches and win the tournament. In short, the chances were low, given the current level of Nadal and the raised chicken of Tsitsipas. Affected in the abdominals at Bercy, Alcaraz will appreciate a simply historic season on the scale of tennis.

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This Tuesday, Alcaraz therefore became the 18th player to finish the year as world number one, the youngest of all. He is also the one who has made the strongest progress in a year to become the boss of the circuit, going from 32nd place to first between January and November. Finally, he became the only one to achieve this by appearing outside the Top 10 at the start of the season, the previous record belonging to Andy Roddick going from 10th to first place in 2003. In short, “Carlitos” continues to break records of precociousness.

End of an era

His 2022 season will simply have been amazing, especially from spring to autumn, which will have crowned him at Flushing Meadows, where he had burst into the face of the world a year earlier. Winner in Rio, Miami, Barcelona, ​​Madrid and therefore at the US Open, he will have surprised by his maturity and his ability to find answers at lightning speed for his age.

It is also a small revolution on the scale of world tennis. No player outside the “Big 4” had managed to finish the year on the throne since… Roddick in 2003. Meanwhile, Roger Federer (5 times), Rafael Nadal (5), Novak Djokovic (7) and Andy Murray (1) ended the year in this symbolic position.

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