Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has been on the tennis world’s radar ever since he closed out his first ATP main-draw win at Rio in February of 2020—at 3 a.m., after a three-hour, 37-minute battle with Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“I will remember Rio forever,” the then-16-year-old told the crowd.
Now 18, Alcaraz will remember New York forever. The Spaniard hosted his Grand Slam breakout party in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, knocking off No.3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-5, in four hours, seven minutes.
“Without this crowd, I haven’t the possibility to win the match,” Alcaraz said on court after his stunning victory. “It’s an incredible feeling for me.”
Alcaraz, who turned 18 on May 5, made quite a bit of history with his victory over Tsitsipas. USOpen.org is here to take you through the numbers.
1989: Alcaraz becomes the youngest player to reach the US Open Round of 16 since Michael Chang (17) and Pete Sampras (18) in 1989.
1992: Alcaraz becomes the youngest player to reach the Round of 16 at a major since Andrei Medvedev in 1992 at Roland Garros.
2-0: The Spaniard has won both of his five-set matches at the majors. He defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the first round of his Wimbledon debut this summer.
3: Alcaraz becomes the youngest player to defeat a Top 3-ranked player at the US Open in Open era history.
4: Alcaraz is playing in just his fourth main draw at a Grand Slam. He made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open this February, and has competed in each major main draw since.
5: Alcaraz is the fifth-youngest player to earn a win at all four Grand Slam tournaments. Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic are three of the four players on the list that have achieved the feat at a younger age.
8: If Alcaraz defeats Peter Gojowczyk in the Round of 16 on Sunday, he will become the youngest player to reach a US Open quarterfinal in the Open era history. He would be eight days younger than Andre Agassi was when he reached the last eight in New York in 1988.
Bonus: In June, Alcaraz reached the third round at Roland-Garros as a qualifier to become the youngest player to reach the Round of 32 in Paris since 1992.
Stats courtesy of ATP Media.
Watch: Alcaraz vs. Tsitsipas, Round 3 Highlights
Watch: Press Conference, Carlos Alcaraz, R3
