Alcaraz becomes youngest player to reach ATP Top Five since Nadal in 2005

As of today, Carlos Alcaraz has a new career-high ranking of number 5 and he became the youngest player since Nadal to be ranked inside the top 5.

Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed a breakout season this year. He actually broke out last year but this year has been the superstar rise that saw him climb all the way to number 5 in the rankings. So how did it happen? Well, it's best shown with some numbers. Alcaraz is 39-8 on the year with a 14-1 record on ATP 500 events. He won two of them, Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona while only losing in Hamburg yesterday.

That loss in Hamburg was his first loss in a final as he was 5-0 previously. Besides those two ATP 500 events, he also won two ATP 1000 events. One was the Miami Masters where he beat Casper Ruud in straight sets and the other was Madrid where he beat Zverev in the final.

Overall it's just been an amazing year for Alcaraz who is very likely to finish the year with over 50 wins. He's probably been the best player behind Nadal and Djokovic so far this year and there is a good chance he finished in the top 3 at the end of the year.