Carlos Alcaraz boasts a phenomenal career at the age of just 21, having already won four Grand Slam titles.
The Spaniard has also reached the world number one spot, but Alcaraz ended the season ranked third on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz will be eager to get back to the summit of the ATP Tour as soon as possible, with the youngster currently hard at work behind the scenes in a bid to do exactly that.
Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev occupy positions one and two respectively in the ATP Tour rankings, with Alcaraz needing more consistency to get back on top.
At the same time, however, he can have very few complaints about being a four-time Grand Slam champion at such a young age.
The impressive Carlos Alcaraz prediction after his first Grand Slam loss
That superb journey started as a 17-year-old back at the 2021 Australian Open, where he suffered a second round defeat to Mikael Ymer.
The Swede came from a set down to beat the Spaniard, becoming the first person to beat Alcaraz at a Grand Slam.
Ymer was, however, fully aware of how special his opponent was even back then, saying in his winning press conference: “I think he plays very good tennis and this of course I knew walking in, but what made me more impressed was that at this age he played so committed to his game style, no matter the score, even if he was down, even if he was up, breakpoint down, tiebreak.
“I assume this is what he and his team wants him to play, but I was really impressed because playing younger guys before… I’m not going to talk like I’m old, but I’m also looking back into my own career, that was one thing that takes a lot of time that I still face and I think there are players that face too, to really committing to what you have to do and he did it all throughout the match.
“So I was really impressed and I think I would have sat there and said the same thing if he would have won, which he definitely could have, that I think he is the big possibility to be the future of our sport.
“Not only to be a very good tennis player, but he looks very, very nice… my first impression is that he’s a very nice guy.
“So I think he will be one of, not only a good tennis player, great tennis player, but one of these players that the kids are really going to look up to and have as a big role model.”
What is Carlos Alcaraz’s career Grand Slam record?
Ymer really is among a rare group, with the Swede also beating Alcaraz at Winston-Salem that year to extend their head-to-head record to 2-0.
The latter really hasn’t been around for long all things considered, making his superb Grand Slam success that bit more impressive.
He reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in his debut major season, and went on to lift the trophy just a year later.
Back-to-back Wimbledon final wins over Novak Djokovic and a French Open triumph have followed in the years since.
| Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | |
| 2021 | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | QF |
| 2022 | 3rd | QF | 4th | WON |
| 2023 | N/A | SF | WON | SF |
| 2024 | QF | WON | WON | 2nd |
Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev are his other final victims, with the Spaniard unbeaten in his four Grand Slam finals.
Hitting number five will undoubtedly be on his agenda in 2025, although perhaps top of the list will be an elusive Australian Open title next month.
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