The defeats of Nadal and Tsitsipas meant that it was not necessary to wait for the end of the ATP Finals to know that Carlos Alcaraz would finish 2022 as world number one. That's why, before Wednesday's match between the Greek and Medvedev, the Spaniard dressed up to receive a well-deserved tribute for being the youngest player in history to finish a season at the top of the ATP rankings.
"First of all, I have to apologise for not being able to play here, but my injury prevented me from doing so. It has been very hard to achieve this incredible trophy that means everything to me. I would like to thank everyone for helping me to achieve the dream of a little boy from Murcia. To my family and also," Alcaraz said to the Italian public, from whom he said goodbye with his usual charisma, giving them a wink in Italian about his participation next year: "A thousand thanks to all of you. See you next year."
The player from El Palmar, the first player not named Nadal, Djokovic, Murray or Federer to finish a year as number one since the American Andy Roddick achieved it in 2003, valued this fact with pride: "It's incredible that a 19-year-old kid comes along and takes that record away, but that's what I've been working for for so long. It shows the level that the four of them have offered compared to the others."
Alcaraz, to the surprise of many, assured that he picked Nadal to win the tournament, although a hypothetical victory of the Spaniard would have snatched the first place in the ranking: "I can not go against Rafa, all my life I have followed him, if he had taken the number one, I would have been happy for him."
Sad for not being able to play the ATP Finals because of his abdominal injury sustained at the Paris Masters 1000, the Spaniard was ambitious about what he expects from his tennis career: "I'm upset that I wasn't able to play here, but these things happen. It's part of the tennis player's life. I want to win more tournaments and more Grand Slams, so keep it up because the hardest thing is to stay there. I want to be in this position for much longer."
