Tennis
The elimination of Rafa Nadal in the ATP Finals ends his options and the Murcian ties the throne until 2023
Carlos Alcaraz already has the icing on the cake that will sweeten a bittersweet season finale, away from the slopes. After the elimination of Rafael Nadal in the ATP Finals, the Murcian has made sure to keep the number 1 ‘ranking’ at the end of this year. Despite the fact that a muscle tear has removed him from the tournament among the eight best rackets, no one will be able to take the throne from him.
There were two candidates: Rafa Nadal, who had to raise the trophy for the first time or reach the final undefeated, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, forced to become champion and prevail in all matches. Neither of them can already achieve an achievement that seemed unlikely, so Carlos Alcaraz will continue his recovery at home with the peace of mind that no one will separate him from the top of tennis.
Although reaching the top of the ‘ranking’ is an achievement within the reach of a select few, whoever maintains it at the end of the year is the one who goes down in history as the king of the course. Since Andy Roddick in 2003, no one other than the ‘big three’ (Nadal, Federer and Djokovic) has achieved it. In this way, Alcaraz makes sure to add a good handful of weeks as the best in the world, with which he will surpass tennis players like Becker, Roddick and Medvedev in the historical classification.
It is a brilliant end to the historic season of Carlos Alcaraz, who started the year outside the ‘top 30’. His rise was already brilliant, he did not seem to have a ceiling, and he set himself the goal of finishing 2022 among the top 15. But he has returned to destroy the most optimistic forecasts. Ferrero’s pupil has won five titles, including the US Open, which has made him the youngest number 1 in history. Already at the top of tennis, it is impossible to imagine his progression in 2023.
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