19 Year Old Tennis Superstar Carlos Alcaraz Reclaimed His Number One World Ranking This Weekend As He Reminded Everyone That He's Both The Present And The Future
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.We just had ourselves an action packed sports weekend that featured March Madness, a legit UFC card, the World Baseball Classic, as well as the the NBA and NHL stretch runs. I'm not going to talk about any of that. No, instead I'm going to enlighten you as to what went down in Southern California at a little resort they call Indian Wells. 19 year old tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz returned to stardom and regained his number one ranking in the world.
His performance over the last week was nothing short of spectacular, capping off last night with a blitzing of Russian octopus Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev entered yesterday on a 19 match winning streak that saw him secure three titles, with wins over the likes of Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray, and Felix Auger Aliassime. Carlos Alcaraz made Medvedev look like he was an amateur playing in his first ever pro circuit tournament. It was a dismantlement in every way and it was stunning. I liked Carlos to win the match, but not like that. It was genuinely shocking how much better he was. Just look at this shit.
Medvedev is credited as one of the game's best returners. He's an incredibly awkward guy to play with how far back he starts each point. Almost everything about him is irregular and that typically gives his opponents fits. Not yesterday. Alcaraz was never threatened. They call this one way traffic.
Just unfair. He was completely unplayable in that match. After watching his game this tournament I'm really not sure the dude has a weakness. The serve has improved greatly over the last 18 months and has become a strong aspect of his game. His forehand is an absolute piss missile. The two handed backhand is a weapon. His drop shot is arguably the best shot anyone possesses in the sport. His speed is ludicrous and the instincts seem to always be right. All of that as a 19 year old with a great head on his shoulders. As long as health holds up we're looking at the One. Carlos had to miss the Aussie Open to begin the year because of an abdominal injury and just recently picked up a hammy issue that he's been dealing with. There were no signs of any problems in California, however.
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This is the teenager's 3rd Masters 1000 title of his career. With the win he's back to number one in the world. What's a bit unfortunate is that he'll have to win in Miami next to hold onto that crown since he won that title in 2022. For Carlos though at this point, having already banked 22 weeks as world numero uno, he doesn't have to worry too much about that honor. There will be plenty of weeks in the future where he's in that spot. What's most important is staying in form and being healthy for the slams.
Here's the fun part that's about to get going in a little bit. We're about to get a spring/summer of Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic. With the U.S. traveling rules not allowing Novak into the States this month, we unfortunately missed out on a possible encounter at this past tournament or the one that's about to go down in Miami. Even though that rule gets lifted in May they would not grant Djokovic an exemption (stupid). Once clay court season arrives next month the real fun will begin over in Europe.
Another name you're probably going to hear around that time? This Spaniard dude who has 22 grand slams and might be looking to finish out on top as he says good bye to a legendary career. Rafa decided to take a lot of time off after the Aussie to get healthy and gear up for this run. Now we got Novak, Rafa, and Carlos just going at it every week? Incredible.
Tennis has asked itself a giant question since Roger Federer's injuries became too much for him to play. Can the men's side survive without the Big Three of Fed, Rafa, and Djokovic? Carlos Alcaraz is that answer. What's even more fun is that Djokovic is still very much in grand slam winning form and should remain in that for some time. The hope is that we're getting something similar to when Djokovic bursting onto the scene during Fed's prime. Alcaraz went up against Djokovic's very best during last year's Madrid Masters and won in a thrilling three set match. A motivated Djokovic against a 19 (soon to be 20) year old Carlos is pure box office material. Give me all of it.
There are a ton of young, talented studs in the game, but there's only one Carlos Alcaraz. Here are some of his best moments from the past week. Well, worth the watch.
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