Carlos Alcaraz is called to leave his mark on the ‘white sport’. Very quickly, with just a couple of courses as a professional, the Spanish tennis player got into the middle of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in a select group of the ATP.
Carlitos became the second active player to reach more Tour finals under the age of 20, at just 19. After qualifying for the Rio Open title match, the Murcian will accumulate a total of 9 finals played once he faces the British Cameron Norrie.
That is the second best number, already leaving the Serbian Novak Djokovic a bit behind, who has played 7 finals before turning 20. The record is clearly held by the Spanish Rafael Nadal, who at that time accumulated a total of 18 games for the tournament title.
That is to say, Rafa barely achieved twice as many finals as Carlitos, at least until now. Of those eight finals that Alcaraz has played so far, he has emerged victorious in six and lost in two of them. Interestingly, both lost to Italian players in the figures of Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
For his part, those two wins came in tournaments on hard courts and against the same opponent (Casper Ruud), including a Grand Slam final (US Open-2022). In this way it is verified once again that Carlos Alcaraz is a generational talent who very soon begins to write his name in the golden book of ‘white sport’ and what he lacks.
How many finals do you think the Murcian will achieve in the entire 2023 season?
Becker comments on Djokovic
Boris Becker revealed that he cried while watching Novak Djokovic win the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, a moment that was particularly difficult for the German as he was in prison at the time.
Becker also revealed that the Serb will be part of the documentary, a fact of which he is very proud. «While I was inside [jail], Novak supported me, supported my family. I started crying when he started winning. I’m very proud that probably the greatest player of all time is part of this story,» Becker said.
Novak Djokovic has sent a clear message to all his rivals at the start of the season. The Serbian phenomenon started 2023 in the best possible way, winning the ATP 250 in Adelaide and, above all, his tenth Australian Open. At 35, the Belgrade native, who only lost one set in the entire tournament, reaffirmed that he is the strongest player at the moment and regained first place in the ATP ranking.
