The number beside his name had never been lower. On 12 September 2022, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man ever to top the ATP rankings, reaching world No. 1 at 19 years and 130 days.
A final with everything on the line
The US Open championship match against Casper Ruud doubled as a straight shootout for the top spot. Inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, the tension was palpable as 23,000 fans largely threw their support behind the Spaniard.
Alcaraz held his nerve over four gripping sets, sealing a 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(1), 6–3 victory. With one swing, he claimed his first Grand Slam title and the pinnacle of men's tennis.
Three five-set nights
The path to that moment was relentlessly gruelling. His quarter-final against Jannik Sinner stretched into a five-hour, 15-minute epic — the third-longest match in US Open history. Two nights later, he outlasted Frances Tiafoe in another five-setter just to reach the final.
A record book rewritten
The previous youngest ATP No. 1 was Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who claimed the spot at 20 years and 265 days in 2001. Alcaraz smashed that mark by more than a year.
He began the season ranked world No. 32 and made the biggest single-year jump to No. 1 in the 50 editions of the year-end ATP Rankings. His Madrid run earlier that year, where he toppled Nadal, Djokovic and Zverev on consecutive days, had already signalled a shift.
"It's crazy for me. I've never thought that I was going to achieve something like that at 19 years old," Alcaraz told reporters afterwards. "Everything came so fast."
The sport had a new name at its summit, and he arrived with a champion's appetite already fully formed.
