Carlos Alcaraz's first Roland Garros success was a landmark win because of the many records he set.
Alcaraz defeated Alexander Zverev last Sunday in five sets to win the clay-court Grand Slam, picking up where his childhood idol Rafael Nadal left off. He also emulated his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, whose solitary major title came at the 2003 French Open.
With doubts about the severity of his forearm injury, which kept him out of action in the majority of the warm-up tournaments, Alcaraz did not experience any physical problems throughout the fortnight in Paris except for a couple of moments when he battled a mild cramp in the semifinal and final, but he had a remedy for it.
What made Alcaraz's triumph special is that all three of his Grand Slams came from three different surfaces. At 21, he is the youngest man to achieve this feat.
But a couple more Open Era records stand out. The Spaniard is also the youngest man (21 years and 35 days) to win three different Grand Slams, beating the likes of Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer for this distinction.
His other two Grand Slam wins were at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Additionally, Alcaraz has taken the fewest main draw appearances to win three Grand Slams on clay, hard, and grass surfaces, with 13.
By contrast, some of the iconic names in men's tennis took even more attempts. The previous record holders on the list included Connors and Nadal, who both needed 20 appearances to win on three different surfaces. Mats Wilander took 24, and Andre Agassi took 36.
Alcaraz can complete the career Grand Slam (winning all four majors) if he wins the Australian Open in 2025. That would be before his 22nd birthday, thereby making him the youngest to achieve this monumental feat.