By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 16, 2022
Whether he's in Milan or Melbourne, Carlos Alcaraz competes like a man going places.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz ended 2021 sweeping his final five matches to win the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan.
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Alcaraz unleashed a baseline swarm stopping qualifier Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the Australian Open second round for the second straight year.
The 33rd-ranked Spaniard more than doubled Tabilo's winner output—40 to 16—moving into a second-round meeting vs. Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
Afterward, Alcaraz cited his two main goals for 2022: Reach the Top 15 and qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Milan.
"Well, I have a goal to end the year into the top 15 is a good goal for me," Alcaraz said. "To be able to play the Nitto Finals, it's a really good goal for me, but so difficult as well."
At the US Open last September, Alcaraz stunned third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(5) in a coming-of-age third-round conquest. Alcaraz made history as the youngest man to defeat a Top-3 US Open seed since 1973—and the youngest man to reach the round of 16 in Flushing Meadows since a 17-year-old Michael Chang and 18-year-old Pete Sampras did it back in 1989.
On an AO opening day in which three of the rising young stars he beat in Milan were in action—Sebastian Korda toppled 12th-seeded Cameron Norrie, while Brandon Nakashima and Holger Rune both fell—Alcaraz looked sharp.
Should Alcaraz beat Lajovic, he could get an AO shot at Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, who plays American wild card Stefan Kozlov in the second round.
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