Carlos Alcaraz poised to become tennis' next big star after meteoric rise

For years talk has abounded about the next generation of men's tennis; over which young contenders would emerge to challenge, and ultimately take over, following an era dominated by the three greatest players in history.

Many have tried and fallen short over the near-two decades of collective dominance by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, but times are changing and the post-Big Three landscape has started to take shape over the past two years.

Federer, 41 in August and recovering from a second knee operation in less than a year, looks increasingly less likely with each passing month to return to the pinnacle of the game, while Nadal, 36 next month and in a perpetual battle with pain, has become more selective with his schedule than ever to extend his career. Djokovic, 35 in a few weeks and top of the world rankings, remains a stubborn bastion of the Big Three era but a chasing pack of hungry, young, and talented players are making ground.

That chasing pack has for the past few years been led by Russian world No 2 Daniil Medvedev, German world No 3 Alexander Zverev, and Greek world No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, but there appears to be a new sheriff in town and he goes by the name of Carlos Alcaraz.

The Spaniard, who turned 19 last week, continued his rapid rise by winning the Madrid Open on Sunday. It was his second Masters 1000 and fourth overall title this season from just seven tournaments played. As a result, Alcaraz has climbed to a career-high No 6 in the rankings.

Beyond the trophies and ranking points, though, has been the manner in which Alcaraz has carved through his opponents - and no one has been safe. Having beaten Tsitsipas twice en route to the Miami and Barcelona titles, Alcaraz created history