World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz reflects on 'dream' year: 'Everything has come so fast'

19-year-old Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz Garfia has had a dream year in 2022, having claimed the men’s singles world number one ranking and winning the US Open. And to honour him for an incredible year, ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi presented him with the ATP No. 1 trophy on October 31.

Carlos Alcaraz reflects on dream year

After being given the No. 1 trophy, Carlos Alcaraz told the ATP Tour, "For me it’s a dream come true being No. 1 in the world, to be a Grand Slam champion. I feel like the No. 1 (ranking), and to have this trophy means a lot to me. Everything has come so fast. I didn’t think at the beginning of the year that I’m going to have the year that I’m having right now."

Speaking of the efforts he put in to achieve his goals, the Spaniard added, "I always believe in my team and in my work, so this is something that came with the hard work that I put in every day, the hard preseason, the work during the year with my team. Everything pays off."

The 19-year-old is set to compete at the Paris Masters tournament this week where he will enter as the top seed. He will play his first game of the competition in the second round against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka on Wednesday, November 2. The time of the clash will be revealed in due course. After finishing his tournament in Paris, he will look to cap off a brilliant year with another top performance at the Nitto ATP Tour Finals, which will take place from November 13 to 20.

Carlos Alcaraz Garfia's staggering records

Despite just being a teenager, Carlos Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm and already has some staggering records to his name. At the age of just 19 years and four months, the Spaniard became the youngest player to achieve the ATP men's singles world number one ranking. And that is not it, as he is also the youngest player to win the Rio Open (18 years and 10 months), the Miami Open (18 years and 11 months) and the Madrid Open (19 years).