What record has Carlos Alcaraz broken by reaching the French Open final?
The Spaniard will be looking to lift his third Grand Slam tournament at the Roland Garros final against the ‘hungry’ Alexander Zverev.
Carlos Alcaraz arrived in Paris with a few doubts regarding his forearm injury but the young superstar has been playing some of the best tennis of his career at the French Open.
After successfully defending his Indian Wells crown, the Murcia native hasn’t won any other titles this year, and there was lots of interest to see him play in the second major of the calendar.
Although he looked a bit shaky in this year’s second round against Jesper De Jong, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s disciple leveled up his game and reminded of the ‘old’ Alcaraz who was ruthless on the courts, especially on the big occasions.
After beating De Jong, Alcaraz dispatched top opposition like Seb Korda, Feliz Auger-Aliassime, and Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. The ice on the cake was his match against the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, an intense, hard-fought five-setter that ended up with the Spaniard celebrating the win.
What milestone has Alcaraz reached by progressing to the French Open final?
Besides reaching the French Open final for the first time in his career, the 21-year-old maestro broke another record despite his young age. He’s the youngest player to reach the final game of a Grand Slam event on three different surfaces.
After playing and winning the US Open 2022 (hard), and Wimbledon 2023 (grass), he will feature in the French Open final (clay) on Sunday.
Andre Agassi previously held that record, as the American played in the Wimbledon final in 1992 and featured in the French Open and US Open in 1990, at 22 years old and one month. On his day, Agassi broke the Swede Bjorn Borg’s record, as he accomplished that feat at 22 and two months (French Open in 1974, Wimbledon in 1976, and US Open in 1978).
Moreover, Alcaraz achieved this milestone in less time than Agassi, who invested more than two years, while the Spaniard has done it in less than two. Among Charly’s precocity records, becoming the youngest world No. 1 tennis in history at 19 and the youngest to keep that spot at the end of the year (2022) are the ones that stand out in his impressive resume.