18-year old, Carlos Alcaraz wins the Rio open, his first ATP 500 title
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz seeded 7th at the Rio Open stormed to his first major title defeating 3rd sealed Argentine Diego Schwartzmann 6-4, 6-2 in the final. In his route to the championship, the teenager defeated high-ranked opponents Federico Delbonis, Fabio Fognini & top seed Matteo Berrettini. This win also ensured that Alcaraz breaks into the Top 20 of Men’s Tennis for the first time.
Alcaraz became the third-youngest top-20 player since 1990 after Andrei Medvedev & Pete Sampras. He achieved this feat quicker than his Spanish counterpart, Rafael Nadal who did it in 2005.
Is Alcaraz Spain’s worthy successor of Rafael Nadal?
Alcaraz is often compared to the legendary Nadal and it has to it with just their nationality or both of them being left-handed. Two years back in 2020, Alcaraz had won his first-ever ATP match in the Rio Open and now he is an ATP 500 title winner.
As a junior, Alcaraz won 2 titles on the ITF Junior circuit and since turning professional in 2018, he has won 3 titles on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour and 4 on the ATP Challenger Tour.
He broke into the Top 100 of men’s tennis in 2021 and ended the ATP Tour 2021 as the highest-ranked teenager, with a ranking of 32. One year later, he is now in the Top 20 of Men’s Tennis.
That’s some progress, isn’t it?
Alcaraz has always upheld the sportsmanship spirit. He has been in the news for good things on and off the court. He is always seen congratulating his opponents irrespective of the result or even help them out on the court if they are in trouble. The most notable incident recently is at the Australian Open when he helped Matteo Berrettini to get back to his feet after the Italian had a nasty fall on the court. Tennis fans around the world love him & the Spaniard is definitely poised or bigger & better things ahead.
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