How Alcaraz Became the “King of Tennis” and Deposed Medvedev

Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz became the first racket of the world because of the victory in the final of the US Open (US Open). As a result of the decisive match of the tournament, the athlete defeated the Norwegian Kasper Ruud. The 19-year-old Spaniard made a real sensation in the world of tennis, becoming the youngest number one tennis ranking in history. Experts are sure that the child prodigy has a great future. Who is Alcaraz and why he removed Daniil Medvedev, we tell in the material .

Childhood and youth

Alcaraz was born on May 5, 2003 in the village of El Palmar in the province of Murcia in southeastern Spain into a large family. For the first time, the boy picked up a racket at the age of four at the tennis school, which belonged to his father, and since then Rafael Nadal has been Carlos’ idol.

At the age of 12, the tennis player won all the children’s tournaments in his native province and received his first personal sponsor. After 3 years, the athlete entered the Equalite Academy, where the former first racket of the world in singles, Juan Carlos Ferrero, became his coach. Under his leadership, the Spaniard still performs to this day.

Youngest male singles competitor

The following season, Alcaraz received the status of European tennis champion and made his first appearance in the ATP main draw, and in 2020 the Association of Tennis Professionals named Carlos Rookie of the Year. In addition, the tennis player was in the top 250 of the ATP rankings, confirming his lightning-fast progress in his career.

In 2021, Alcaraz qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open and became the youngest ever male singles competitor. On his 18th birthday, Carlos played against his idol Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Open series tournament. Then an experienced athlete won, but he noted the energy and character of Alcaraz.

In the summer of the same year, the child prodigy made his debut at Wimbledon. In the first round he defeated the Japanese opponent, but in the second round he failed to beat Daniil Medvedev. Two months later, the Spaniard became a participant in the Winston-Salem Open tournament, where he left Alexei Popyrin behind in the qualifying round and reached the semifinals, in which the tennis player defeated the Swede Mikael Ymer.

US Open Championship

At the 2021 US Open, Alcatraz reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. His most striking game took place with the third racket of the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and ended with the victory of Carlos. So, the tennis player became the youngest quarter-finalist of the Grand Slam tournaments in men’s singles. Alcaraz could not complete the last game due to fatigue and a leg injury.

By November 2021, the athlete was already in the top 35 of the ATP rankings and in the Spanish national team. Carlos planned to make his debut in the Davis Cup finals at the end of the year. However, on the eve of the tournament, the Spaniard fell ill with a coronavirus, and therefore missed the competition.

How did the 2022 season start for Alcaraz?

At the end of January of the 2022 season, Alcaraz reached the third round of the Australian Open. Then the Spaniard flew to the Rio Open championship, where he defeated compatriot Jaume Munara, and then reached the final. The match with the Argentinean Diego Schwartzman, which became decisive, brought Alcaraz the first title in the ATP 500 category tournament and 20th place in the ranking.

Alcatraz’s next tournament was the Indian Wells, where he reached the final of the Masters category for the first time in his career, but again he could not beat Rafael Nadal. In addition, the Spaniard made his first appearance in the Spanish national team at the Davis Cup during the qualifying match against the Romanian team.

Miami Masters Championship

The Miami Masters championship ended with a real triumph for Carlos – he went to the final, defeated the Norwegian Kasper Ruud, became the first Spaniard and the youngest winner of the Miami tournament among men in 37 years. Previously, this record belonged to Novak Djokovic, who became the champion at almost 20 years old in 2007.

The new achievement allowed Alcaraz to rise immediately by nine lines in the ATP rankings and become the 11th racket of the world. Interestingly, a year earlier, Carlos was not even among the top 100 tennis players, and in this tournament he was already called the main discovery of the season.

The first racket of the world

The Spaniard reached the final of the US Open 2022 for the first time, and in the decisive match of the tournament he defeated Kasper Ruud with a score of 6:4, 2:6, 7:6 (7:1), 6:3, becoming the first racket of the world. This made him the youngest leader in the world rankings. In addition, Carlos set an absolute record for the amount of time spent on the court – 23 hours 39 minutes.

This title is the first Grand Slam trophy for Alcaraz. Kasper became the second racket of the world. The score in personal meetings between Carlos and Ruud is 3-0 in favor of the Spaniard. Before that, he defeated Ruud in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Marbella and in the final match of the tournament in Miami. At the same time, Ruud has never won a major.

How Alcaraz removed Medvedev?

Before the start of the 2022 US Open, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev was the world number one, he confidently walked the grid, beating one opponent after another in three sets. However, the athlete lost to the Australian Nick Kyrgios in the 1/8 finals of the tournament, so the first line of the rating was already out of reach for him. Subsequently, the Russian was able to take fourth place in the top.

Thus, the main hooligan of world tennis has become a stumbling block for Medvedev. The only time out of five matches with this player, Daniil won the Australian Open in 2022, but since then the tennis player has lost to Kiryos both at the tournament in Montreal and now in New York.