A year ago, on February 21, Alcaraz was only ranked 141st.
Last week, after the 18-year-old Spaniard won the at-500 Rio championship and won one of the heaviest singles titles of his career, his ranking at ATP rose from 29th to 20th.
"Honestly, I can't believe it, it's such a wonderful feeling." He said after beating Schwartzman in the final.
In fact, in the past year, the Spanish genius teenager's ranking has soared, which can be described as rapid. After all, three weeks ago at the Australian Open, he was in the world's top 30 for the first time.
Alcaraz ranking changes:
On September 14, 2020, after reaching the final of the Italian Challenge, the ranking entered the world's top 200 for the first time;
On 24 May 2021, after winning the Challenge in Portugal, the ranking entered the top 100 for the first time;
After reaching the quarter-finals for the first time at the 2021 US Open, on September 13 of the same year, the ranking entered the top 50 for the first time;
After entering the third round of the 2022 Australian Open, it entered the top 30 for the first time on January 31;
After winning the Rio Championship, on February 21, 2022, it was ranked in the top 20 of the world.
It is worth mentioning that Alcaraz has also entered the world's top 20 faster than any one of the Big Three.
Federer and Djokovic did just that at the age of 19, while Nadal made it to the world's top 20 on April 4, 2005, when he was 18 years and 305 days old. Alcaraz is 18 years and 292 days old in the world's top 20 and is also the youngest player in the current ATP top 250.
Alcaraz isn't the only player to break through in the ATP rankings this week.
Kazakh player Bublik, who recently won his first CAREER ATP title at Montpellier, rose from 31st to 30th in singles, and American Tommy Paul made the top 40 for the first time. After reaching the semifinals at The Play de la Reed, his singles ranking rose from 41st to 39th.
In the WTA rankings, Ostapenko jumped from 21st to 13th for the first time in the world since October 2018 after winning the most weighty hardcour title of her career at the WTA 500 in Dubai.
In addition, Bardoza' ranking has risen from No. 5 in the world to No. 4, and she will travel to Indian Wells in a few weeks to begin the defending battle.
Bardoza is the 64th player in WTA history to enter the world's top 4. Of the 64 players, 27 players are ranked first in the world, 12 players are ranked 2nd in career highs, 13 players are ranked 3rd in career highs, and 12 players are ranked 4th in career highs.
In addition, she is the sixth active player to set a new career high. Alongside Garcia, Andreescu, Bencic, Kenning, and Swatek. (Source: Tennis House Author: Wu Li Fun)