Carlos Alcaraz said he has always set great ambitions in his career, after becoming the best young player on the ATP Tour for the past 17 years.
“I want to be number one, I want to win a Grand Slam and win an Olympic gold medal.” Carlos Alcaraz said in an interview with ATP on the occasion of entering the world’s top 10 for the first time on April 25.
Alcaraz and Nadal are the two people who reached the top 10 ATP before the age of 19 since 1994. Photo: ATP
Alcaraz climbed 110 places in just one year, to ninth ATP this week. He has won all three finals since the beginning of 2022, including the Masters 1000 in Miami and two ATP 500s in Rio and Barcelona. At the age of 18, 11 months and 20 days, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the top 10 ATP since Rafael Nadal 2005. Since the ATP statistics for players in 1973, Alcaraz is the ninth youngest person to enter the top 10.
“I don’t see my limits yet,” Alcaraz added. “I want to keep playing at a competitive level. If I keep playing like I am, I will continue to grow. Above all, I enjoy tennis on the court and learn every day. I have not reached my peak.”
Reaching the top 10 in the world at the age of 18 is not Alcaraz’s only success last week. No player in the Open Era has reached 50 wins as quickly as the young Spanish talent. He needed 70 games to do this, faster than 79 games of Novak Djokovic81 matches of Nadal and 97 matches of Roger Federer. Alcaraz’s teacher, Juan Carlos Ferrero, needed 73 matches to reach 50 victories. Ferrero used to hold the world number one for eight weeks.
“I have Juan Carlos by my side and he has great support,” Alcaraz said of the coach, who has been with me for many years. “He talked about the difficulties of being number one in the world, what I need to go through. I think I am on the right track. I will have a chance if I keep playing like I am. Of course, nothing is certainly in this world”.
Alcaraz’s success makes Spain the only country to have more than one player in the top 10 in both men’s and women’s world. Last week, tennis player Paula Badosa finished second in the WTA, while senior Garbine Muguruza ranked ninth. Badosa is the fourth Spanish female tennis player to ever reach world number two, after Muguruza, Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez.
Holding the number one women’s singles is still Iga Swiatek. The 20-year-old won the Stuttgart Open last week to reach 23 consecutive wins. She has won all four finals since the beginning of the year. Swiatek won seven and lost only one WTA Tour final, the first final of his career in 2019 at the age of 17.
Vy Anh (according to Tennishead)
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