With his US Open triumph over world-famous Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz took another bite out of the brilliant and legendary history of the Big Three. Last Monday, the Murcian managed to win at least one match in each Grand Slam being younger than Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, when they did it in their day.
This time he surpasses them again in precocity by beating a top-3 in the ranking, Tsitsipas (number three), in a major with 18 years and 4 months, one less than Nadal, two than Djokovic and four than Federer.
The first top-3 rival Nadal beat was Roger Federer, who was number one when the Spaniard beat him in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2005 (6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3). It was just the day of Rafa’s 19th birthday, June 3. The Swiss was also the first tennis player on the podium of the classification that Djokovic surpassed, in the penultimate round of the 2008 Australian Open (7-5, 6-3 and 7-6 (5)). The Serbian was over 20 years old. Federer’s case is curious, since he made his debut in this regard against Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach, in Melbourne, in the 2008 semifinals (6-4, 6-1 and 6-4). It so happens that on those occasions, the three finished champions in those tournaments, something that you can ask Carlos now, although you never know.