Since 2003, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won 80% of all the Grand Slam titles. For more than a decade now, no male tennis player aged under 21 years has won a Grand Slam. But such wins were frequent earlier, with 24 instances between 1970 and 2010. On Sunday, teenager Carlos Alcaraz won a clay court tournament by defeating 13-time French Open winner Nadal in the quarters on Friday and current numero uno Djokovic in the semi finals a day later. He turned 19 last Thursday. With the 2022 edition of Roland Garros less than 10 days away, will the only teenger ranked within the top 40 currently be the game changer in men’s tennis?
Ageing winners
The chart depicts the age of male Grand Slam winners in the Open Era. The higher the circle, the older the winner. Due to the dominance of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the last decade, the age of Grand Slam champions has been on an increasing trend. The last under-21 champion came in 2009. It was in 2006 that we last saw a teenager win the Slam
