Alcaraz has long been seen as an exciting young prospect in tennis but so far in 2022 has cemented himself as a current top player instead of a future one. He has already exceeded even his own goals for the season, initially aiming to crack the world’s top 15 by the end of the year but has already done so by making the last four in Miami.
The current world No 16, who will rise when the rankings update on Monday, now finds himself in the semi-finals of a second consecutive Masters 1000 event after beating the likes of fomer US Open champion Marin Cilic and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas en rote. He will have another tough task ahead of him in Hurkacz, the defending champion in Miami who is also flying in the doubles having already booked a spot in the final partnering John Isner.
But the numbers are on the teenager’s side, with the ATP’s streaming platform Tennis TV revealing that he has the second-highest winning percentage on the tour so far, with only Nadal ahead of him. The elder Spaniard won his first 20 matches of the season, picking up titles in Melbourne, Acapulco and the Australian Open, and his last victory came against none other then Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semi-final before he went on to lose the final to Taylor Fritz.
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With the world No 3’s 20-1 win-loss record for the season so far, he sits atop the standings with a 95 per cent winning record. Alcaraz currently holds an 89 per cent winning record, losing just two matches at Tour level this year – one to Nadal in Indian Wells and the second to Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open.
His wins for 2022 also include a run to the title in Rio, where he became the youngest ATP 500 title winner in history since the tier of tournaments was created. And he already has an edge over Hurkacz, with his semi-finals opponent sitting in joint-ninth place in the standings with a 74 per cent winning rate for the season. With first-time Masters finalist Casper Ruud awaiting the winner of the Alcaraz-Hurkacz semi-final, Alcaraz also holds a better record for the season with the Norweigan on an 80 per cent winning rate.
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As the only man with a better win to loss ratio this year and the last player to beat Alcaraz, Nadal has already been full of praise for his young compatriot and even compared him to a younger version of himself. “I think he is unstoppable in terms of his career,” the world No 3 said ahead of their recent Indian Wells clash.
“He’s a good guy and [reminds] me a lot of things like when I was 17 or 18 years old kid,” he added. With Nadal winning his first Major aged 19 at the French Open, it’s a big comparison. And the 21-time Major champion thinks Alcaraz can go on to achieve the greatest things in the sport like he did. “Carlos is a great guy and he is a potential No 1 player and multi-Grand Slam winner without a doubt, no? So it’s great that in Spain we have a player like him,” Nadal said.
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