Alcaraz equals Guga, Nadal and Djokovic and 'zeroes' major clay titles at 22 years old

The best tennis player of the season so far, Carlos Alcaraz returned to shine on Sunday, after fluctuations throughout the Rome Masters 1000. The 22-year-old Spaniard defeated local and world number 1 Jannik Sinner in the final, winning the important title and equaling big names such as Gustavo Kuerten, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic .

The title in Italy was the only one missing for Alcaraz among his major achievements on clay. He is the current champion of Roland Garros, the main tournament on this surface, and already had trophies from the Madrid Masters (two) and Monte Carlo, the latter won last month. The victory in the Italian capital completed the Spaniard's collection of major titles on clay.

With his collection complete, Alcaraz becomes only the fifth tennis player in history to win all three Masters 1000 tournaments played on clay. Before him, only players such as Guga, Nadal, Djokovic and Chilean Marcelo Rios had lifted these trophies. Of this quintet, only Rios was not the Roland Garros champion.

The Spanish tennis player won all three Masters 1000 clay titles at the age of 22, earlier this month. He was therefore younger than Djokovic and Guga, who were both 23 at the time. Nadal was the earliest to win these titles, at 21, just a few weeks before turning 22.

Alcaraz also shone in clay court tournaments at a level just below the Masters 1000, such as the ATP 500 in Barcelona and the Rio Open in Rio. He was also champion at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. His dominance on clay, however, has not yet been matched by the Spaniard in the hard court competitions at Masters 1000.

Of the other six tournaments at this level, all played on hard courts, he has only won in Indian Wells and Miami. Alcaraz is still looking for his first title in Canada (Montreal or Toronto, the venues alternate each year), Cincinnati, Paris and Shanghai.

In the 2025 season, Alcaraz has been dominant, despite not having won the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, in January. He is the first tennis player to win three titles in a year. He also won in Rotterdam and Monte Carlo. And, after defeating the world number one in his home world, he is the main favorite to win the Roland Garros title.

Alcaraz will arrive at the French Grand Slam, which starts on the 25th, in great physical and technical shape. As he has risen to second place in the rankings, in the update of this Monday, he will be the second seed. Therefore, he will only be able to see Sinner again in a possible final in Paris.