Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal (Credits: Tennis Head)
Carlos Alcaraz has had a season to remember. He has produced some stunning results on the tour and is on the brink of becoming the year-end No. 1.
The young Spaniard has won five titles this season. The last of them came at the US Open when he lifted his first-ever Grand Slam title. This triumph also took Alcaraz to the top of the ATP rankings.
His season came to an unfortunate end when he suffered an injury during his quarter-final encounter against Holger Rune in the Paris Masters. The 19-year-old was forced to retire during the match and later confirmed that he revealed he would need six weeks to recover. The injury meant that he could not compete in the ATP Finals. Alcaraz will also miss the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup.
Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who are placed at No. 2 and No. 3 in the ATP rankings displaced Alcaraz from the top and end the year as the No. 1 player. Tsitsipas has blown the chance after losing to Novak Djokovic in his opening encounter of the ATP Finals.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion still becomes the year-end world No. 1 for the sixth time in his career. Let’s find out how:
The legendary Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, has never won the ATP Finals in his career. The season-ending tournament is one of the rare challenges that he has not conquered.
The 36-year-old will have to win the tournament to take Alcaraz’s place at the pinnacle of the ATP rankings. Nadal has not been in great form as of late. For the first time since 2009, he has lost three matches in a row.
Nadal began his campaign in Turin against Taylor Fritz. The American took advantage of the veteran’s lackluster performance and won the match 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Nadal will take on Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime up next.
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