Carlos Alcaraz is up for the 2023 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. Carlos is among the six nominees, along with Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Alcaraz had an incredible season in 2022, starting the season from outside the top-30 and finishing as the youngest No.1 in ATP history.
Carlos won his first major trophy at the US Open, becoming the first teenager with a major crown since Rafael Nadal in 2005. The Spaniard embraced the ATP throne for 20 weeks before Novak Djokovic overtook him after the Australian Open in this year.
The youngster has made impressive progress up the list in the past three years. He started the 2022 season just outside the top-30 and hoped to finish it in the top-15. Instead, he seized the ATP throne and wrote history books.
The Spaniard suffered a narrow loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open before winning his first ATP 500 crown in Rio de Janeiro as the youngest winner at that level since 2009. The young tennis player pushed Rafael Nadal to the limit in the Indian Wells semifinal before losing after more than three hours.
Carlos went further in Miami and became the third youngest Masters 1000 champion after Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz did not have to wait to lift another notable trophy, conquering Barcelona at the end of April to add two consecutive ATP 500 titles.
With those points he slipped into the top-10 and joined the elite of players who have achieved it before turning 19. Without stopping there, the youngster raised another Masters 1000 shield in front of his fans in Madrid, after beating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in three days.
Alcaraz is a captivating player
Former WTA World no 1 Monica Seles has lauded the impact on tennis made by Carlos Alcaraz in a breakout 2022 campaign. “The way he played in 2022… I’ve had a chance to watch him play in person at the Indian Wells tournament against Rafael Nadal and I was just blown away by his intensity and also how focused he was for being such a young age – and he was playing somebody that’s probably the most focused player our sport has had in Nadal,” Seles said.
“And then you know, followed him throughout the summer and then when he came to New York to play at the US Open, when he went all the way. I mean, it was just so impressive for somebody to have that mental strength, that physical strength in those long matches, the late matches at the US Open. And he just handled it with such ease. Like he is used to this, like he has done this before.”
