Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish tennis player who made the decisive leap in this last part of the season, conquering the plenary thanks to a single match, became number one after the US Open, and continues to be the leader of the men’s ranking. With the final victory at the US Open, he won his first Grand Slam title and took first place in the ranking. The youngest number one in the world, after returning to Paris-Bercy, ended the year in France; due to injury, in fact, he had to forgo the ATP Finals, where he was rewarded for finishing the year as number one. A top of the ranking that Carlos Alcaraz will not give up so easily. In fact, the Iberian will arrive at the Australian Open as number one in the world, despite the presence of Rafael Nadal in the United Cup. In this last competition, the 22-time Grand Slam champion can obtain a maximum of 500 points, in case of final victory. However, the two compatriots are separated by 800 points: therefore, Alcaraz will maintain the position until the next stage, the Australian Open. In fact, even the points that Nadal could earn in a 250 tournament in the week leading up to Melbourne would be superfluous. Taking this scenario into account, Carlos Alcaraz would have been at the top of the ranking for a total of 19 weeks. In this way, he makes definitive the overtaking of his predecessor Daniil Medvedev: the Russian stopped in 16 weeks. The Spaniard becomes the 17th tennis player for number of weeks as world number one. The list of those who have accumulated more time than him in that position is long, while fewer tennis players have scored fewer weeks as the leader of the world rankings. Marat Safin stayed in 9 weeks; while John Newcombe and Juan C. Ferrero in 8. Six weeks at the top for Thomas Muster, Marcelo Ríos and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Two for Carlos Moyà, while Rafter reaches his all-time low: only one week as number one in the world.
Carlos Alcaraz still does not realize
Three months after his incredible coronation at the US Open, propelling him to the top of world tennis, Carlos Alcaraz still does not realize. “It feels like a dream to me. Honestly, I often think about my current position in the ATP rankings, and I still can’t believe it. I wonder if it’s real, if I’m number 1 in the world. I’m dreaming. It’s something I have to realize,” the world’s youngest ever No. 1 told Arab News. Injured in the abdominals in recent weeks, he will return to the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition in Abu Dhabi from December 16 to 18.