Carlos Alcaraz's win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Miami marked 5th top-10 win of his career: How old were Big 3 when they achieved the feat?
Carlos Alcaraz is widely regarded as the best tennis prospect to come out of Spain since Rafael Nadal and the Spaniard has time and again proved that he has what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the sport.
On Wednesday, the teenage sensation scored another top-10 win by defeating World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the fourth round of the Miami Masters.
The win marked the fifth for the World No. 16 over opponents ranked inside the top 10. When Nadal achieved the same feat in 2005, he was just 12 days younger than Alcaraz.
18yo Carlos Alcaraz already played a lot of good matches in his career, but this one was probably the best.
Beats Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-3 to reach the QFs in Miami. Back to back ATP M1000 QFs for him.
What an incredible performance. https://t.co/jK31ktkgib
The Mallorcan was 18 years, 10 months and 12 days old when he defeated Gaston Gaudio in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Monte-Carlo Masters. He had previously defeated Albert Costa (2003 Monte-Carlo), Carlos Moya (2003 Hamburg Masters), Roger Federer (2004 Miami Masters) and Andy Roddick (2004 Davis Cup).
Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, was 18 years, 10 months and 24 days old when he bested the Greek in Miami. His previous top-10 victories were over Stefanos Tsitsipas (2021 US Open), Matteo Berrettini (2021 Vienna Open and 2022 Rio Open) and Jannik Sinner (2021 Paris Masters).
DID YOU KNOW❓
Carlos Alcaraz, who got the 5th Top 10 win of his career in Miami tonight, is just 12 days older than Nadal was when he got his 5th career Top 10 win at 2005 Monte Carlo.
Nadal: 18y, 10m, 12d
Alcaraz: 18y, 10m, 24d
Federer and Djokovic did it when they were 19.
Roger Federer, on the other hand, was 19 years and five months old when he scored the fifth top-10 win of his career. His first five wins came against Carlos Moya (1999 Open 13 Provence), Nicolas Kiefer (2000 Milan Indoor), Magnus Norman (2000 Vienna Open), Lleyton Hewitt (2000 Swiss Indoor) and Yevgeny Kafelnikov (2001 Milan Indoor).
Novak Djokovic was almost the same age as Federer - 19 years and 10 months - when he managed to achieve the feat. His first five top-10 wins came against Mariano Puerta (2005 Paris Masters), Fernando Gonzalez (2006 Roland Garros), Tommy Robredo (2006 Wimbledon and 2007 Rotterdam Open) and Rafael Nadal (2007 Miami Masters).
Carlos Alcaraz takes on Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Miami Open
Following his victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz will lock horns with Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Miami Masters. The unseeded Kecmanovic is on a marauding run in the ATP 1000 event, having defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda and Taylor Fritz on the trot to reach the last eight.
Miomir Miomir on the wall. Who's having the most surprising Sunshine Double of them all?
Miomir Kecmanovic flips the script on Taylor Fritz, avenging last week's loss with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win in Miami
With the win, the Serbian has now reached back-to-back ATP 1000 quarterfinals https://t.co/B4d40RxaZy
The two have never faced off against each other before, and the clash on Thursday will mark their first meeting on the ATP tour. A win for the Serb would take him into the first Masters 1000 semifinal of his career. A win for Alcaraz, on the other hand, will take him into his second consecutive Masters 1000 semifinal.
The mad thing about Carlos Alcaraz is that he seems to be able to brush tough losses aside and move on QUICKLY.
Like, he lost a real close three setter to Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells, yet here he is in Miami motoring through the draw like it ain't nothing.
The winner will take on either Daniil Medvedev or Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals.