Carlos Alcaraz will end the year as number one in the world. The youngest in history at 19 years and six months, surpassing the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who was 20 years, eight months and 23 days old when he achieved it in 2001.
The defeat of Rafa Nadal, together with the result of Casper Ruud-Taylor Fritz, left the Balearic Islands without the possibility of winning the tournament, which would have returned him to the top. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the other player with options, already lost one match (against Novak Djokovic), which ruled him out mathematically, because he needed to be an undefeated champion.
The Murcian is the 18th tennis player to finish the course at the top, taking over from Djokovic, who did it in 2020 and 2021 and holds the record, with seven. Rafael Nadal, who achieved it five times, was the only Spaniard who had enjoyed this recognition. Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moyá, in the ATP, and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Garbiñe Muguruza, in the WTA, were also number one, but never at the end of the season.
The Spanish tennis player has closed the year (balance of 57-13) with five titles: the ATP 500 in Rio and Godó, the Masters 1,000 in Miami and Madrid and the US Open. It was in New York where he rose to the top of the standings, in which he has been for ten weeks now.
Santigo de la Peña
