CNN
,
Carlos Alcaraz Set to become the youngest year-end No. 1 in men’s history Tennis After Rafael Nadal’s exit from ATP Finals
At 19 years and 214 days old, US Open champion Alcaraz surpassed Lleyton Hewitt’s record of finishing the year as World No. 1 in 2001 at the age of 20 years and 275 days.
Alcaraz is not playing at this year’s ATP Finals in Turin, Italy as he recovers from an abdominal injury suffered at the Paris Masters earlier this month, but compatriot Nadal’s early exit from the tournament means he still has There is reason to celebrate.
The teenager has enjoyed a sensational year, winning five ATP titles and Youngest to become number 1 in men’s tennis When he won his first Grand Slam title in New York.
Nadal could leapfrog Alcaraz to the top of the world rankings with a win in Turin this week, but after losing 6-3 6-4 against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday and Casper Ruud taking a draw against 36-year-old Taylor Fritz Set won. Old is out of the tournament.
Nadal has been struggling for form since the US Open in September and has achieved his fourth straight since 2009 against Auger-Aliassime.
This comes after losing in straight sets to Taylor Fritz in Turin earlier this week and losses against Tommy Paul at the Paris Masters and Frances Tiafoe at the US Open.
“I don’t think I forgot how to play tennis, how to be mentally strong,” Nadal told reporters on Tuesday.
“I just need to recover all these positive feelings and all this confidence and all this strong mindset that I need to be at the level that I want to be.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going to reach that level again. But don’t I doubt [about] is that me [am] I’m going to die for this.
Nadal had chances to take the lead against Auger-Aliassime, but failed to convert four break points in the first set. The Canadian went ahead 5-3 when he broke Nadal’s serve and took the set in no time to take an early lead.
In the second set, Auger-Aliassime broke Nadal at 1–1, then consolidated his advantage in the next game with three consecutive aces.
The world No. 6 fired 15 aces in the entire match and served for the win in almost two hours.
It means Auger-Aliassime remains in contention to advance past the group stage at the ATP Finals despite losing to Ruud in their opening match on Sunday.