Carlos Alcaraz finds himself at No 6 on the ATP rankings after his spectacular run in last week’s Madrid Open. He took out Nadal, Djokovic and Zverev to win the championship.
He is not playing this week in Rome, though— he is resting up a sprained ankle for the French Open that starts in less than two weeks.
GOAT = Greatest Of All Time (in men’s tennis).
My apologies for posting a picture depicting gun violence, but I could not resist reposting this meme that did the rounds on Twitter after Carlos had taken out Nadal and Djokovic in the Madrid Open.
PS 1: The usual debate is if Nadal (age 35), Djokovic (34) or Roger Federer (40) is the GOAT. And then there is Rod Laver. Only two men had ever won the Grand Slam (the four major tournaments in one year): Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).
PS 2: Carlos has not played against Federer, and it’s looking more and more that he never will. Federer had a third operation done on his right knee last year, and will miss the 2022 French Open as well as Wimbledon.