What Alcaraz Did Quicker Than Djokovic, Federer & Nadal

  • Posted: Feb 21, 2022

What Alcaraz Did Quicker Than Djokovic, Federer & Nadal

Spanish teen makes breakthrough after Rio triumph

Carlos Alcaraz made history on Monday when he cracked the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at World No. 20. No active player — including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — broke into the elite group at a younger age than Alcaraz, who is 18 years, nine months and 16 days old.  

“It’s really good to be in the Top 20,” said Alcaraz, who accomplished the feat by becoming the youngest ATP 500 titlist in category history (since 2009) on Sunday at the Rio Open presented by Claro. “That was a goal for me at the end of the year, so to be able to do that at the beginning is amazing.”

Eleven active players have broken into the Top 20 as a teenager. The only other active player who did it aged 18 was Nadal, who was 18 years, 10 months and one day old when he reached No. 17 on 4 April 2005.

Youngest Active Players To Crack The Top 20

 Player

Date Cracked Top 20

 Age
 Carlos Alcaraz  21 Feb 2022  18y, 9m, 16d
 Rafael Nadal  4 Apr 2005  18y, 10m, 1d
 Richard Gasquet  20 June 2005  19y, 2d
 Felix Auger-Aliassime  19 Aug 2019  19y, 11d 
 Andy Murray  21 Aug 2006  19y, 3m, 6d
 Novak Djokovic  9 Oct 2006  19y, 4m, 17d
 Alexander Zverev  17 Oct 2016  19y, 5m, 27d
 Roger Federer  26 Feb 2001  19y, 6m, 18d
 Jannik Sinner  19 Apr 2001  19y, 8m, 3d
 Juan Martin del Potro  11 Aug 2008  19y, 10m, 19d
 Denis Shapovalov  1 Apr 2019  19y, 11m, 17d

Alcaraz is the youngest player to break into the Top 20 since Andrei Medvedev, who was 18 years, five months and one day old when he cracked the Top 20 on 1 February 1993.

It has been a rapid rise for Alcaraz, who was No. 406 in the ATP Rankings when he made his ATP Tour main draw debut in Rio de Janeiro two years ago. 

There is nobody younger than Alcaraz in the Top 250. Holger Rune, the World No. 88, is six days older than the Spaniard. Italian Luca Nardi, an 18-year-old who is three months and one day younger than Alcaraz, is at a career-high World No. 283.

– Research assistance provided by Joshua Rey

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