Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

All about Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz

July 14, 2024 21:56 IST

IMAGE: Carlos Alcaraz now has four Grand Slam trophies with a perfect record in major finals. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Factbox on Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Serbian second seed Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6(4) in the Wimbledon final on Sunday to win his fourth Grand Slam title.

Age: 21

Country: Spain

 

ATP ranking: 3

Seeding: 3

Grand Slam titles: 4 (2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon, 2024 French Open, 2024 Wimbledon)

ROAD TO FINAL

First round: Mark Lajal (Estonia) 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2

Second round: Aleksandar Vukic (Australia) 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2

Third round: 29-Frances Tiafoe (US) 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2

Round of 16: 16-Ugo Humbert (France) 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

Quarter-finals: 12-Tommy Paul (US) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Semi-finals: 5-Daniil Medvedev (Russia) 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4



EARLY LIFE

* Born in El Palmar, Alcaraz started playing tennis at the age of four at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia, where his father was the tennis academy director.

CAREER TO DATE

* Made his ATP main-draw debut aged 16 at the 2020 Rio Open.

* In 2021 Alcaraz became the youngest man in the professional era to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals.

* Became the first teenager to beat compatriot Rafa Nadal and Serbian Djokovic, who head the list of men's Grand Slam winners, in the same tournament — and on consecutive days — to win his second ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2022 Madrid Open.

* Outclassed Norwegian Casper Ruud to clinch his first major title at the 2022 U.S. Open, becoming the youngest champion at Flushing Meadows since American Pete Sampras (19) in 1990. That year, at 19 years, four months and six days, he became the youngest world number one in ATP rankings history.

* Went on to win nine titles as a teenager, behind only Bjorn Borg, Nadal, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker and Andre Agassi.

* Defeated Djokovic to win the 2023 Wimbledon. He became the first man outside the 'Big Four' of Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray to win at the All England Club since 2002.

* Beat Alexander Zverev in the 2024 French Open final to become the youngest man, at 21, to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces -- hard, grass and clay.

* Beat Djokovic again at the 2024 Wimbledon final, taking his Grand Slam final win-loss record to 4-0. He became just the sixth man in the professional era to win the French Open-Wimbledon double in the same year after Rod Laver, Borg, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.