Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Alcaraz Joins Fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal With This Unique Masters 1000 Feat

Alcaraz continues to dazzle on the courts of clay!

Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz played one of the best matches of his career to date when he went up against a resurging and in-form Jannik Sinner. The Italian was egged on by the support of the full-capacity crowd on home soil, and after a tough first set, Alcaraz pulled away for an easy win over his 23-year-old opponent.

In doing so, the Spaniard has achieved a feat that is truly remarkable, joining only fellow countryman Rafael Nadal and the Serbian Novak Djokovic to win all three major clay court titles outside of the French Open.

With yesterday’s win over Sinner in the final of the Italian Open, Alcaraz now has 4 Masters 1000 titles on clay, which include his Madrid Masters in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Monte Carlo Masters, which he won just last month.

Alcaraz and Nadal’s Unique Masters 1000 Feat

What is truly historic is the fact that the Spaniard has now joined Nadal to become only the second man to lift two Masters 1000 singles titles on clay in the same season. Clay, being the most demanding of all surfaces, takes a huge toll on the body, but to be able to compete at the highest level day in and day out takes a lot of grit and determination.

Carlos Alcaraz is the first man since Rafael Nadal to win multiple clay ATP Masters 1000 titles in a season. pic.twitter.com/xCp2r6pRs6
— Carlos Alcaraz (@alcarchive) May 18, 2025

Nadal, who retired in November 2024, last won multiple clay Masters 1000 titles in 2018, following which injuries played a huge role late in his career. However, the ‘King of Clay’ has achieved one stat that is out of this world.

During the 2010 season, Nadal was in peak form and he completely outclassed his opponents by winning not only 2, but all three Masters 1000 on clay, including the Monte Carlo Masters, Madrid Masters, and the Rome Masters, before going on to lift the French Open in Paris the very same year.

Also Read: Jannik Sinner Cheekily Calls Out His Brother for Ditching Italian Open 2025 Final Over F1 Priorities

Alcaraz’s 2025 Clay-Swing Thus Far

The 22-year-old who has now jumped one spot in the rankings will head into the French Open as the number 2 seed and the number 2-ranked player in the world behind Sinner. Following a steady but not so dominant hard-court season, Alcaraz stepped up his game with the start of the clay season.

En route to winning the Monte Carlo Masters over Lorenzo Musetti, Alcaraz won a three-set battle over clay-court specialist Francisco Cerundolo in his first-round matchup. He had another tough match against Arthur Fils in the quarters, before brushing aside Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in just two sets.

He then played at the Barcelona Open, where he once again reached the final but lost to Holger Rune. After skipping Madrid due to some muscle-related injuries, Alcaraz was back in top form in Rome, going on to lift the title with convincing wins over Jack Draper and Musetti in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.

this is how you win a set pic.twitter.com/fAP8fepGMO
— Carlos Alcaraz (@alcarchive) May 18, 2025

The Spaniard’s form and movement on this surface have been top-notch, which means he will head into Roland Garros as the clear favorite where he is the defending Champion, having defeated Alexander Zverev in a thrilling 5-set encounter.

ATP

ATP Masters 1000

Carlos Alcaraz

Italian Open 2025

Rafael Nadal

Rome Masters

Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!