Carlos Alcaraz Becomes Youngest Year-End No. 1 in ATP History

The 19-year-old won five titles this season, including the 2022 U.S. Open.

The 2022 U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz officially became the youngest men’s tennis player in ATP history to finish the season at world No. 1.

The 19-year-old took the No. 1 spot on Monday with his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal sitting at No. 2. Coincidentally, with 36-year-old Nadal sitting at No. 2, it makes him the oldest player to reach the top two ATP spots in history. 

As if Alcaraz hasn’t proven enough that he’s the face of the new era of men’s tennis, it’s important to note that he is the first men’s tennis player other than Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray since 2003 to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the season.

At the end of the 2021 season, Alcaraz sat at No. 32 in the world, making his jump to No. 1 the biggest rise to the top spot in ATP history.

The Spaniard has remained in the No. 1 spot since he beat Casper Ruud in September’s U.S. Open final, which was his first Grand Slam title.

On top of breaking one ATP record, Alcaraz also took home the most prize money in the 2022 season, winning $10,102,330. It helped that Alcaraz won the most titles on tour this season with five, tied with Djokovic, including a Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic, who won Wimbledon, finished second on the prize money list with $9,934,582 in earnings.

One of Alcaraz’s biggest feats of the 2022 season came in May at the Madrid Open when he consecutively upset Nadal and Djokovic to make his way to the final. He ended up securing his fourth title of the year there.

Alcaraz hasn’t played for the last month after suffering an abdominal muscle tear at November’s Paris Masters. He told reporters shortly after that he plans to be ready by the start of the 2023 season, via Tennis.com. He will compete next season to maintain his No. 1 ranking.

Here’s the list of the year-end Top 10 ATP players:

1. Alcaraz
2. Nadal
3. Ruud
4. Stefanos Tsitsipas
5. Djokovic
6. Felix Auger-Aliassime
7. Daniil Medvedev
8. Andrey Rublev
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Hubert Hurkacz

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