At 19, Carlos Alcaraz already has a hundred victories to his name on the ATP circuit. His hundredth success, the young Spaniard who only needed 132 games to reach this level obtained it at the expense of the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (7-6, 6-3) on Monday.
In terms of precocity, Carlos Alcaraz is definitely there. Already the youngest world number 1 in history but also the youngest player to finish the year in the number 1 chair, the prodigious 19-year-old Spanish player wrote a new page in his recent but already sumptuous history, this Monday at Indian Wells. The protege of Juan Carlos Carlos Ferrero has indeed signed his hundredth victory on the ATP circuit by winning in two sets (7-6, 6-3) against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
Qualified for the round of 16, where he will face Briton Scott Draper, who fell for Andy Murray, the big absentee from the last Australian Open (injured, he had been forced to forfeit), “Carlitos” did not need only 132 games to reach these hundred victories. And here again, we can speak of a rather exceptional feat achieved by the native of El Palmar. Among all the players who have once been world number 1, only John McEncore, the legendary American champion, has indeed needed fewer matches than the Spaniard to reach this symbolic milestone.
Better than Agassi or Nadal
And again, it was played in a match. “Big Mac” had indeed reached the mark of the hundred successes in question after 131 meetings. He was 19 then too. Alcaraz therefore does better than André Agassi (who needed 135 games at 18), Rafael Nadal (137 at 19), Mats Wilander (138 at 18) and Boris Becker (140 at 20). The winner of the last US Open (his first Grand Slam title) is not the type to dwell on his performance, but rather to move forward and look straight ahead.
He nevertheless took the time to dwell for a few moments on this victory on Monday against Griekspoor, confessing to the press his pride at already being there. “I am very proud to have won my 100th victory on the circuit. I saw that I was the second player in history with the fewest matches to be able to get a hundred wins”. The 101st should not delay.