Carlos Alcaraz won his second grand slam before turning 21 with Sunday’s Wimbledon triumph.
Alcaraz is outstripping the achievements of runner-up Novak Djokovic and the rest of the modern ‘big three’ at the same age and here, the PA news agency looks at the statistics behind the Spaniard’s rapid rise to prominence.
Double delight
After winning last year’s US Open to become the youngest ever men’s world number one, and the first teenager to top the rankings, Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in five hard-fought sets at SW19 to double his grand slam tally.
The win means he has matched compatriot Rafael Nadal’s two majors before turning 21, while Djokovic won only the 2008 Australian Open and Roger Federer had not opened his account by that age.
Alcaraz will have two more chances before his 21st birthday, his US Open defence starting next month and then January’s Australian Open. Winning both would see him equal Mats Wilander’s Open era record of four slams before turning 21, while one success would match Bjorn Borg for second place on that list.
He has also spent 29 weeks at number one in the rankings in four separate spells, including his current four-week run – something neither Djokovic, Federer nor Nadal achieved before turning 21.
Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin are the only other under-21s to top the men’s rankings – Safin for just two weeks in 2000. Hewitt spent 61 weeks at number one before turning 21, with Alcaraz able to overhaul that record if he can retain his status for 32 of the 41 weeks before his next birthday.
Should he hold top spot at the end of the season and through the off-season, that will account for six weeks. However, he would almost certainly need to win the US Open where he is defending last year’s points and Djokovic, who missed out last year due to being unvaccinated against Covid-19, will be gaining points all the way.
Lost generation
Outside of the US Open, Alcaraz is remarkably the first man born after Djokovic to win any of the other three grand slams.
Since Safin’s 2005 Australian Open title, that competition has been won 10 times by Djokovic – born in May 1987 – with five wins for Federer, born in 1981, two for Nadal (1986) and one for Stan Wawrinka (1985).
Nadal has dominated the French Open with 14 wins, with three for Djokovic and one each for Federer and Wawrinka, while the Wimbledon titles had until Sunday been shared by Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray – a week older than Djokovic.
Juan Martin Del Potro and Marin Cilic, both born in 1988, Dominic Thiem (1993) and Daniil Medvedev (1996) have all won the US Open in addition to Alcaraz himself, the last three in successive years.
Alcaraz’s two majors and 29 weeks at number one compare to the four US Open titles and 16 weeks with Medvedev at number one for all male players born between himself and Djokovic. By contrast on the women’s side, players born in this period have won 33 grand slams and spent 458 weeks at world number one.
Jarry defeats Paul to set up Zverev showdown in Italian Open final
Nicolas Jarry defeated Tommy Paul in three sets on Friday to set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev in the Italian Open final.
The men's world number 24 prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in a little under three hours in Rome to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
Jarry earned the only break of serve in the eighth game of the opening set, but Paul - who dropped just one set in four matches en route to this stage - hit back in the second.
Birthday boy Paul lost serve to trail 4-2 at one stage, but he produced one of the shots of the tournament at the ideal moment and soon dragged it back to 4-4.
A gruelling set concluded with Paul taking the tie-break 7-3, but Jarry was unperturbed and won the deciding set with his fifth match point to see off Paul in a gruelling contest.
Data Debrief:
Jarry is the third male Chilean in the Open Era to reach the singles final of the Italian Open after Marcelo Rios (1997-98) and Fernando Gonzalez (2007).
The 28-year-old registered 13 aces against Paul to his opponent's seven and hit 35 winners to 19 in a deserved victory.
Zverev ends Tabilo's dream run to reach Italian Open final
Alexander Zverev fought back from the brink to reach the Italian Open final on Friday, overcoming Alejandro Tabilo by a 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 scoreline in the last four.
Zverev was punished for a slow start as Tabilo took the opener within 32 minutes, but the German fought back in a one-hour, 15-minute slog of a second set.
The 2017 Italian Open champion put his foot down from 3-3 in the second-set tie-break, with Tabilo potentially feeling the effects of a fine run that included a last-32 upset of Novak Djokovic.
Zverev upped the intensity in the final set and won a huge 94 per cent of points behind his first serve as his opponent wilted, the third seed reaching the Rome final for a third time.
Data Debrief: Zverev draws level with Becker
Zverev will now face either Nicolas Jarry or Tommy Paul in Sunday's final, which will be his 11th at ATP 1000 Masters level.
That tally pulls him level with Boris Becker for most such finals by a German player since the format's 1990 introduction.
Sabalenka defeats Collins to set up Swiatek rematch
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.
Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.
And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.
The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.
This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.
She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.
Data Debrief: Perfect record
Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).
The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.
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