Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have been the best players of the season. The trio claimed the 2022 Big Four and would have qualified in the top three had Novak Djokovic collected his 2,000 Wimbledon points and played in the Australian Open and US Open.
Alcaraz, Djokovic and Nadal are the only players with more than 9,000,000 dollars this year, with the young gunner above the two legends. Carlos became the fifth player to earn $10,000,000 in a single season after Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.
The 19-year-old Spaniard wrote history books in 2022, becoming the first teenager with a Major title since Rafael Nadal and the youngest player on the ATP throne. Carlos started the season from outside the top-30 and won his first title in Rio de Janeiro.
The young tennis player lost to Nadal in the Indian Wells semifinal before claiming his first Masters 1000 crown in Miami against Casper Ruud. Carlos became the third-youngest Masters 1000 champion and maintained that form in Barcelona, winning another title and breaking into the top-10 at age 18.
Alcaraz lifted his second Masters 1000 crown in Madrid after consecutively beating Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. The Spaniard lost two ATP finals on clay in July before heading into the US Open as the fourth seed.
Carlos saved a match point against Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals and went all the way to win the title and write history. The Spaniard did enough to become world number 1, finishing the season on a high despite playing just a couple of tournaments after New York.
Novak Djokovic missed the Australian Open, the US Open and four Masters 1000s due to his vaccination status. Still, the Serb did enough to finish in the top five, even without the 2,000 points from his 21st Wimbledon Major crown.
Novak had a good end to the season and conquered Tel Aviv, Astana and the ATP Finals to once again demonstrate his greatness and gain momentum for 2023.
Djokovic made history
Kim Clijsters expressed her amazement at Novak Djokovic’s fitness and flexibility, reminiscing about a photo in which the Serb was seen performing a split with the perfection of a professional gymnast.
“I don’t know if you saw it, but there’s a picture with a Belgian gymnast at the Olympics that he posted, where he’s in a full-on split right next to her. It’s amazing, I love that part about him,” Clijsters said.
“I love how Rafa plays, the intensity, the battle, and the hustle. But with Novak there’s such a physical smoothness, I’ll call it, when he moves from side to side,” Kim Clijsters said during an interview on The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast.
