The 5 youngest men to win Olympic singles gold – as Carlos Alcaraz targets history
Countless youngest-ever records have fallen the way of Carlos Alcaraz in recent months.
The Spaniard has stunned the tennis world with an incredible level of success, with four Grand Slam titles already to his name.
Now, he is going for Olympic glory and should he prevail in the men’s singles event, he would become the youngest champion in the Open Era.
We look back at the youngest men to date who have won Olympic men’s singles gold.
5) Nicolas Massu – Athens 2004
Massu remains the only man to win singles and doubles gold at the same Games, and is the fifth-youngest men’s singles champion in the Open Era.
The Chilean was just two months shy of his 25th birthday heading into Athens 2004, and the tenth seed upset third seed Carlos Moya in the last eight, before beating Taylor Dent to reach the final.
Massu was two-sets-to-one down in the final versus Mardy Fish but rallied to seal an epic triumph – and add to the doubles gold he had already won alongside Fernando Gonzalez.
4) Miroslav Mecir – Seoul 1988
The champion when tennis returned to the Olympics in Seoul 36 years ago, a gold medal proved to be the greatest triumph of Mecir’s career.
Aged 24 years and four months, the third seed shocked top seed and former world No 1 Stefan Edberg in a five-set semi-final victory.
The Czech then came from a set down to strike gold in the final, beating America’s Tim Mayotte in four sets.
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3) Alexander Zverev – Tokyo 2020
The reigning champion, an Olympic gold medal is the most notable success of Zverev’s career to date, and the German is well in the hunt for a second title in Paris.
Having turned 24 three months previously, Zverev shocked the tennis world by coming from a set down to beat overwhelming favourite Novak Djokovic in the last four of the delayed Tokyo Games.
That set up a gold medal match against surprise finalist Karen Khachanov, and the German breezed past the Russian to win the title.
2) Rafael Nadal – Beijing 2008
Aged only 22 years and two months, the greatest summer of Nadal’s career saw him complete the ‘Channel Slam’ before winning his first Olympic gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Games.
The second seed in the men’s singles draw, the Spaniard fought his way into the gold medal match with a battling win over long-term rival Novak Djokovic in the semi-final.
That set up a final versus Chile’s Gonzalez, which the former world No 1 won in straight sets to breeze to the gold medal.
1) Marc Rosset – Barcelona 1992
Rosset is perhaps the most surprising Olympic men’s singles champion – and is also the youngest.
The Swiss star was unseeded at the Barcelona 1992 Games, three months shy of his 22nd birthday.
But he stunned top seed Jim Courier in round three, and went on to battle past home favourite Jordi Arrese in an epic five-set final.
Having only celebrated his 21st birthday back in May, Alcaraz would break Rosset’s record with a triumph in Paris this week.
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