He has been compared to Roger Federer by his coach. And his mix of talents, according to Rafael Nadal, are like the ingredients of a good salad.
There are many ways to describe Carlos Alcaraz – but there is no doubt that the Spaniard has arrived at the top of world tennis.
Having won the US Open on Sunday, the Spaniard has now become the youngest world number one in the history of men’s tennis.
The 19-year-old is also the youngest male Grand Slam champion since compatriot Nadal won the French Open in 2005.
BBC Sport looks at where he came from, his rapid rise – and asks: How good can he become?
Where has Alcaraz come from?
Born in Murcia, Alcaraz was always likely to play tennis – as his father, Carlos senior, was academy director at a club in the city.
However his talent soon turned heads, and in 2018 he began playing at an academy run by Spain’s former French Open champion and world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has since become Alcaraz’s coach.
The young hopeful was 16 when he made his ATP main draw debut in February 2020, at the Rio Open. He defeated tour veteran Albert Ramos Vinolas in round one: the tennis world took note.
Alcaraz’s golden year
In the two and a half years between that win in Rio and his Grand Slam title triumph in New York, Alcaraz firmly established his reputation.
He won the Next Gen ATP Finals towards the end of 2021, then broke into the world’s top 20 in February as he became the youngest winner of an ATP 500 event by taking the Rio Open title.
More success followed quickly. There was a first Masters 1,000 semi-final in March – where he was beaten at Indian Wells by Nadal. Then came a first Masters title in April as Alcaraz, then still 18, became the youngest Miami Open men’s champion.
There was more glory, and more history, before the month was out. In winning the Barcelona Open – another ATP 500 event – the teenager became the youngest player to break the world men’s top 10 since Nadal in 2005.
In May, he won the Madrid Open for his second Masters 1,000 crown and his fourth title of the year – again becoming the tournament’s youngest champion.
He lost in the French Open quarter-finals and the last 16 at Wimbledon, but in late July became the second-youngest player in the 21st century to be ranked in the world men’s top five, after Nadal.
Then came the US Open. On his Flushing Meadows debut last year, Alcaraz reached…
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