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Sporty Sam

I love most sports, but particularly rugby union, rugby league, football, cricket, tennis, athletics, boxing, golf, jai alai, Formula 1 and The Olympic Games. I hate American football and wrestling and will not watch it.
This blog is about the sports I like.

Carlos Alcaraz – New Kid on the Tennis Block
Monday, June 10, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz is just 21, but he is already a three-time Grand Slam Tennis champion. He has appeared in three finals and won all three. He is the youngest player to win on the three different surfaces used for Grand Slams, ie hard, clay and grass. He is also the youngest player in the Open Era to be ranked No. 1. What a player!

 

Background

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia was born on 5 May 2003 in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, to parents Carlos Alcaraz González and Virginia Garfia Escandón. He has three siblings.

Alcaraz started playing tennis at the age of four at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia, where his father was the tennis academy director, and his grandfather one of the club's founders.

In 2018, Alcaraz moved to Villena to begin training at Juan Carlos Ferreiro’s Equelite JC Ferrero Sport Academy.

 

Professional Career

Following his win at the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz became the youngest man and the first male teenager in the Open Era to top the singles rankings, at 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days old. He is currently World No. 2.

Carlos Alcaraz began his career as a professional tennis player in 2018. At the age of 15, he won three titles on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour and four on the ATP Challenger Tour. He broke into the top 100 in rankings in May 2021, and ended that year in the top 35 after reaching his first major quarter-final at the US Open.

In March 2022, Alcaraz won his first Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open at the age of 18, and then won his second at the Madrid Open where he defeated Rafael NadalNovak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev in succession.

In late 2022, Alcaraz won his first major singles title at the US Open, finishing the year as the youngest year-end No. 1 in ATP ranking history.

In 2023, Alcaraz claimed two additional Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells and Madrid, and earned his second major title at Wimbledon, defeating Novak Djokovic to become the first champion outside of the Big Four since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

In 2024, he won his third major title at the French Open, becoming the youngest man in history to complete the career Surface Slam.

 

 

2022: Alcaraz at the US Open

Alcaraz entered the 2022 US Open as the No. 3 seed. He reached the fourth round without dropping a set. Next he defeated 15th seed Marin Cilic in five sets before squeezing past Jannik Sinner, saving a match point in the fourth set. The match set the record as the latest finish (at 2:50AM EST) and second longest match (5 hours and 15 minutes) in US Open history.

He defeated Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals for his third consecutive five-set match victory, and beat 5th seed Casper Ruud in the final.

Alcaraz became the youngest No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings at the age of 19 years, 4 months and 6 days, breaking Lleyton Hewitt's record.

 

2023: Wimbledon champion

At the Queen’s Club Championships, he recorded his first title on grass in only his third career grass court tournament, beating Alex de Minaur in the final. The tournament win in London also returned him to the world No. 1 in rankings. 

At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, as the top seed, Alcaraz reached the final, where, in a monumental match, he defeated Novak Djokovic in five sets, ending Djokovic's run to win a fifth consecutive title, and securing the No. 1 ranking.

 

2024: French Open champion and Career Surface Slam

Prior to Roland-Garros, Alcaraz experienced a shaky clay season. He withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open, the latter where he would be defending his title, due to a right forearm injury. In Madrid, where he was also defending champion, Alcaraz lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Andrey Rublev. He then withdrew from Rome owing to the forearm injury.

In June, in Paris, he reached the semi-final, where he defeated 2nd seed Jannik Sinner in 5 sets to advance to his first French Open final.

His opponent in the final was 4th seed Alexander Zverev, who took the lead 2 sets to 1. Alcaraz took the fourth set 6-1 and forced a fifth decisive set, which he won 6-2.

At 21, he became the youngest male player in history to win a Grand Slam title on every surface.

 

©  Sporty Sam

 

Acknowledgements:

ATP

Diario de Sevilla

Wikipedia

www.marca.com

 

Tags:

Alexander ZverevAlex de Minaur, ATP Challenger Tour, Barcelona Open, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Equelite JC Ferrero Sport Academy, Frances Tiafoe, French Open, Grand Slam, Indian Wells, ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour, Jannik Sinner, Juan Carlos Ferreiro,  Lleyton Hewitt, Madrid, Marin Cilic, Masters 1000, Monte-Carlo Masters, Novak Djokovic, Queen’s Club Championships, Rafael Nadal, Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia, Roland-Garros, US Open, Wimbledon, 



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