Ranking Reaction: Carlos Alcaraz rises to new high of No. 6 after winning Madrid

Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps soaring up the ATP rankings this week, rising from No. 9 to No. 6 after capturing his second Masters 1000 title of the year in Madrid.

He’s now the first man born in the 2000s to reach the Top 8 on the ATP rankings.

PLAYERS BORN IN 2000 OR LATER TO REACH TOP 10 ON ATP RANKINGS:
2000-born Felix Auger-Aliassime: career-high No. 9 (set on January 10, 2022)
2001-born Jannik Sinner: career-high No. 9 (set on November 1, 2021)
2003-born Carlos Alcaraz: career-high No. 6 (set on May 9, 2022)

Alcaraz being No. 6 this week is even more incredible given that on this day a year ago (May 9, 2021) he was ranked No. 120. He made his Top 100 debut on May 24, 2021 (after winning a Challenger in Oeiras, Portugal), his Top 50 debut on September 13, 2021 (after reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open), his Top 20 debut on February 21, 2022 (after winning the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro) and his Top 10 debut on April 25, 2022 (after winning another ATP 500 crown in Barcelona).

With his latest title in Madrid, Alcaraz also moves up to No. 2 on the year-to-date standings, and he’s not too far away from No. 1—Rafael Nadal tops the list with 3,530 points earned so far this year, and Alcaraz is 70 points behind with 3,460.

That gap could widen again this week, though, with Nadal playing one of his best events in Rome, where he’s a 10-time champion. Meanwhile, Alcaraz withdrew from the event to rest and recover after his grueling week in the Spanish capital.

The year-to-date standings represent the race to the ATP Finals in November.

Meanwhile, the two biggest standout performers in the women’s event in Madrid—Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula—both make notable moves up the WTA rankings.

Jabeur, who won by far the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 event, rises from No. 10 back to her career-high of No. 7, which she originally reached for two weeks last November. She dipped back to No. 10 on November 15th and had been hovering in the No. 9-11 range since then, but now she returns to her career-high.

Pegula, who reached by far the biggest final of her career in Madrid, moves up three spots as well from No. 14 to No. 11, jumping past her previous career-high of No. 13.