It was not the case that two teenagers, precisely two nineteen-year-olds on the ATP Tour, had not been in the Top Ten since May 14, 2007: Carlos Alcaraz Y Rune Holger entered history and has done as Novak Djokovic and the british andy murrayat that time respectively number 6 and number 10 on the Men’s Tour.
2022 was probably the year that gave the final rematch or even consecration to NextGen. In the past, young talents were always pushed to the top, but they could hardly catch up with them or really get close to them. Tennis players like Tsitsipas and Zverev have lived their entire youth together and very close to the Big Three, but except for the occasional sporadic victory they have always failed.
2022 saw two very young tennis players, barely 20 years old, win important titles such as Grand Slam or Masters 1000 tournaments.
Alcaraz and Rune like Djokovic and Murray: here are the data
We were all getting used to Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest number one in history and recent US Open winner, when the tennis world had to deal with a new star.
Danish Holger Rune, born just a few days before the Murcian phenomenon, capped off an already excellent year and won the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000. An exceptional victory and certainly not because of a draw: Holger had to beat 5 Top Ten players to win the tournament, a victory over a tennis player in great form like Felix Auger Aliassime and above all an extraordinary final against the defending champion Novak Djokovic.
After the victory, the Danish talent was radiant and spoke at the press conference: «It’s unbelievable. It’s a great feeling to be here with the trophy. It was hard to expect: I started the week facing three match points.»
I will fulfill all that I have done later. I felt so many emotions after the game, the best of my entire life and career. It was like making a small dream come true, although I have even bigger dreams. It’s a big step forward to play a match like this against one of the greatest tennis players.» Great numbers for the Dane and for the Spaniard, in a super season for them.
