Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek lead new generation of tennis stars

The combined age of men’s and women’s world number ones Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek is the fourth-youngest in rankings history.

The new US Open champions – aged 19 and 21 respectively – are the youngest pairing to top the rankings since Marcelo Rios (22) and Martina Hingis (17) in August 1998.

Alcaraz became the youngest world number one in the history of men’s tennis by lifting his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday, while Swiatek cemented her status as the world’s best with her second major of the year and third overall on Saturday.

This is the first time since January 2004 that the players at the top of the men’s and women’s rankings are both aged under 22.

The combined age of the men’s and women’s number ones has hovered around 60 for much of the past decade, because of the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

With Williams retiring at the US Open, Nadal losing in the fourth round, and Djokovic and Federer absent, victories for the youthful Alcaraz and Swiatek point to a bright future ahead.

The tournament saw a record attendance of 776,120 during the two weeks of the main draw, up by 5.2 per cent on the 2019 mark (737,872).

While Williams’ retirement captured much of the early attention, the interest was sustained through the second week by a series of enthralling, high-quality encounters between the game’s next generation of stars.

Congratulations @carlosalcaraz and to you @CasperRuud98 as well! What a ride!