It was a historic season for Carlos Alcaraz, whose accomplishments in 2022 include winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title, his maiden Grand Slam championship and climbing to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
To wrap his year, ATPTour.com asked the Spaniard for the best, biggest, coolest and craziest things to happen to him this season.
Carlos’ Biggest Thing: Ending The Year As World No. 1 Alcaraz at the Nitto ATP Finals was recognised as the youngest year-end No. 1 in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings (since 1973). The 19-year-old became the first teen to accomplish the feat.
“It means a lot to me,” Alcaraz said. “To get this trophy, the World No. 1, to be part of tennis history along with a lot of legends, for me is an amazing feeling.”
Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour Carlos’ Best Thing: Winning The US Open & Reaching World No. 1 Fans and analysts alike had Alcaraz on their radar well before the start of the 2022 season, but few could have predicted how quickly he soared. By defeating Casper Ruud in the US Open final, he claimed his maiden major crown and with it, the No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking.
“It’s crazy for me. I’ve never thought that I was going to achieve something like that at 19 years old. So everything [has] come so fast,” Alcaraz said. “For me it’s unbelievable. It’s something I dreamed since I was a kid, since I started playing tennis. Of course, lifting this trophy today is amazing for me.”
Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images Carlos’ Coolest Thing: Winning The Mutua Madrid Open In Front Of Family & Friends Alcaraz claimed five of his six tour-level titles this season. The one that hit closest to home — literally — was his victory at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Spaniard defeated three of the top four players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev — en route to the trophy in front of his family and friends.
“I am a very familial kid. I have been a kid that whenever I can, I’d rather be at home than somewhere else,” Alcaraz said after his win. “For me to celebrate this title, which is very special, with my family, with my cousins, uncles, grandparents, all my family in general, it’s very, very special.”
Carlos’ Craziest Thing: A Coach’s Surprise When Alcaraz advanced to the Miami Open presented by Itau final, it was a special moment. In 2021 on his Miami debut, the Spaniard lost in the first round. One year later he was into his first ATP Masters 1000 championship match.
The only missing piece was his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was home mourning the loss of his father. Throughout the tournament, Alcaraz paid homage to Ferrero and his family. The teen was pushing through for him.
“After this happened, it was tough for me, it was tough for him,” Ferrero said of not being in Miami. “And even like this he could stay at the same level and trying… to stay even more focussed.”
Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images The night before the final, Alcaraz received a shock when he turned around in the hotel lobby to see his coach standing there. The pair shared an emotional embrace, just as they did the following day after Alcaraz clinched the title.
“Juan Carlos [is a] very important person for me. On [the] professional side, on the personal side, he helps me a lot on both sides,” Alcaraz said after his victory. “When we are together, we will talk about everything in life, everything in our sport, about football, as well. I mean Juan Carlos, I consider him a coach and a friend as well. So I can talk to him about everything.”
Landon Tice and Patrick Leonard discussed a $100,000 prop bet last month, one that likely will never happen, that would require the former to live at Bally’s in Las Vegas — the WSOP site — for a full year, but it’s far from the wildest wager ever made by a poker player.
Earlier this year, Doug Polk began a body fat-loss prop bet with Bill Perkins. The owner of The Lodge Poker Club in Texas must lose 50% of his body fat within a year or pay the hedge fund manager $200,000.
Mike Matusow famously, or infamously, lost a $2 million prop bet in 2010 to Ted Forrest, who won the wager getting 20:1 odds when he dropped about 50 pounds within a few months.
In 2018, Rory Young, an Australian poker player, bet $100,000 that he could spend an entire month in complete isolation locked inside a dark room with no access to daylight.
Legends of the game such as Stu Ungar, Phil Ivey, and Doyle Brunson have also all partaken in some insane and utterly ridiculous prop bets over the years. But none can top the five wild and whacky wagers on this list (in no particular order).
Hennigan Can’t Hack it in the Heartland
Many years ago, John Hennigan made a six-figure wager (rumored to be $100,000) that he could leave the 24/7 Las Vegas degenerate-friendly lifestyle to spend six weeks in Des Moines, Iowa, a town most suitable for 9-to-5’ers. That’s a piece of cake, which I know from experience having lived in the Hawkeye State’s capital city for most of the first 30 years of my life. Where’s my $100k check?
“Johnny World,” however, must have thought Des Moines was too exciting for his blood. The Poker Hall of Famer lasted all of two days before he decided to buy out of the bet and return to Sin City. Perhaps he was turned off by all the mullets on the east side of town.
For the record, Mr. Hennigan, Des Moines consistently ranks among the top places to live in the United States, according to the U.S. News & World Report. So much for the accuracy of the “Johnny World” moniker. More like “Johnny Anywhere in the World but Iowa,” apparently.
Selbst Makes a Drunken Bracelet Bet
If there’s one thing costlier than drinking and driving, it’s drinking and betting against a motivated Jason Mercier. That’s precisely what Vanessa Selbst did a few months prior to the 2016 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and it turned out to be a huge mistake.
According to Selbst, she got blackout drunk during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in January 2016 and laid 180:1 at $10,000 against Mercier winning three bracelets that summer.
Losing the bet would cost the PokerStars Team Pro member at the time $1.8 million. But the odds on anyone — even Phil Hellmuth — winning three WSOP events in one summer are slimmer than slim.
So, no big deal for Selbst, right? Not exactly. Early in the series, Mercier took down Event #16: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. That gave her a bit of a sweat, but her fellow PokerStars Team Pro member was only one-third of the way to victory.
Two days later, however, Mercier was heads-up for the bracelet in Event #20: $10,000 Razz Championship. Selbst dodged a bullet as he lost to Ray Dehkharghani, but he’d go on to win his second bracelet later in the week, that one in Event #24: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship.
The reality of potentially losing a significant chunk of her net worth was settling in for one of poker’s top female players of all-time. Selbst would inevitably hedge off the bet to mitigate loss following a refusal from Mercier to cancel the wager on the basis that she was supposedly heavily intoxicated when the terms were agreed upon. In the end, Mercier never won a third bracelet in 2016, but he did earn WSOP Player of the Year honors.
Reverse Diet Prop Bet
Weight loss prop bets have been in style for the past few years. Michael Noori, however, unintentionally attempted one in reverse. In 2017, the poker player, getting 5:1 odds, bet he could eat $1,000 worth of McDonald’s food over a 36-hour period.
There were some stipulations to the wager, most notably that he could only eat $200 worth of salads, and beverages didn’t count. McDonald’s, the most popular fast food joint in the world, features a notoriously unhealthy, but weirdly tasty menu (you know you love a Big Mac!). Some might argue it’s one of the leading causes of obesity.
Noori’s biggest challenge, perhaps, was the price of food at Mickey D’s. A Quarter Pounder with Cheese and a large French fry is only about $7-$8 depending on the location. Eating $1,000 at a fancy steakhouse within 36 hours might be doable for a professional eater (yes, that’s actually a thing), but this prop bet was virtually impossible. Even Joey Chestnut, who can crush over 70 hot dogs in five minutes, couldn’t pull this one off. Well, for the sake of humanity, we’d like to think he couldn’t.
The poker player gave it a shot but tapped out hundreds of dollars short of victory. When all was said and done, however, some good came of this unhealthy challenge. Noori helped raise money for charity, so everyone won in the end.
Baiting Brutus into a Bar Fight
Legend has it that Johnny Moss, the three-time WSOP Main Event champion, paid $1,000 to get his butt kicked in a bar fight. Well, that’s essentially what ended up happening.
Moss, who passed away in 1995, once supposedly instigated a fight against a known skilled local boxer. If he could beat up this experienced fighter, he’d win $15,000. Lose the fight and he’d owe $1,000. Oh, and probably spend a few nights in the hospital.
The Poker Hall of Famer was given one advantage in the fight. Per the conditions of the wager, he was permitted to take the first shot. So, he approached the much bigger fighter and sucker punched him. He still predictably got whooped and ended up in the hospital, but he learned a valuable lesson in the process — 15:1 odds on a 0% shot aren’t good odds.
Moss finished his poker career with nine WSOP bracelets, the most ever when he died. He’s now tied with Erik Seidel for fifth all-time, seven behind Phil Hellmuth.
Beating NBA Stars at Shooting Free-Throws
Here’s a little gambling advice: If you’re accepting a prop bet against Mike McDonald, just go ahead and immediately hand over your money. There’s no point in wasting time, he’s going to win.
In April 2020, “Timex” bet $250,000 that he could make 90 out of 100 free-throw attempts by the end of the year. That appeared to be a tall task considering he had minimal basketball playing experience.
Hitting 90% in one series of 100 attempts isn’t easy even for the best shooters in the world. Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry holds the NBA record or highest free-throw shooting percentage at 90.8%, right at where McDonald had to get to win his prop bet.
Shooting during the pressure of a game in front of 20,000 fans isn’t as easy as in an empty gym. But McDonald is no athlete and even most professional basketball players wouldn’t hit 90/100 consistently. But “Timex” could take all the time he needed so long as he shot 90% in one series of 100 attempts by December 31, 2020.
By late August, he had completed the bet, which shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone. McDonald is one of the smartest gamblers in poker, and he doesn’t seem to gamble often without knowing he has an edge.
His 2022 US Open dream may have been ended by Carlos Alcaraz on Friday night, but Frances Tiafoe believes his run to the semi-finals in New York could be the start of something bigger.
“I just proved that, honestly, I can play with the best obviously, and I’m capable of winning Grand Slams,” said Tiafoe after falling to the Spaniard in an epic five-setter at Flushing Meadows. “I think everyone knew when I play my best what I could do. But you know how close I can actually be to be one of those guys and to do this consistently.
“Obviously through my career I’ve been pretty sporadic of playing well, veering off for a while. I’ve always backed myself against the best players in the world. I’m doing it on a consistent basis, starting to beat guys more readily. [I’m] ready to take the next step.”
Tiafoe’s whirlwind fortnight in New York saw him become the only man to defeat Rafael Nadal at a major in 2022 with a fourth-round victory, before he reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final with a sublime straight-sets win against ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
“I haven’t even let it soak in yet, honestly,” said the American. “But craziest two weeks of my life. Craziest two weeks of my life. Stuff you dream about doing.
“[I] fell a little short. But, I mean, getting to the fourth round three years in a row, that’s already a good accomplishment. Beating Rafa, being the only player to beat Rafa in a Slam this year, the year he’s had. Him being in the race to be No. 1 in the world, shut that down.
“Just saying you beat him in a Grand Slam… It’s not an easy task. To have my first time beating him here in New York in front of everybody and seeing what that meant, that was crazy.”
Tiafoe believes a new approach to training and match preparation has been a key driver of his successes in New York.
“I’m definitely falling in love with the process and doing the work much more,” said Tiafoe, who is set to break the Top 20 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. “I’m working smarter, I’m understanding. I’ve always tried hard, but [I’m making] my weaknesses stronger, breaking down my game a lot more, and I am a student of the game again.
“I always knew to put two weeks together is obviously the toughest thing in the world. That’s why only three guys were doing it for so long. After getting this deep, I understand how much rest is important during two weeks of slams. Again, I didn’t go out to dinner one time. Just resting. It’s tough. I mean, it’s definitely tough, three-out-of-five.”
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Tiafoe’s exploits have captured the imagination of the home fans this fortnight. As it had during his triumphs against Nadal and Rublev, the support for Tiafoe from the stands contributed to a deafening atmosphere inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for his semi-final clash with Alcaraz. He and the Spaniard responded in kind, treating the crowd to a pulsating four-hour, 19-minute epic.
“It was so electric,” said Tiafoe. “I mean, the tennis definitely matched the hype of the match. Unbelievable shot-making, gets, extending points, crazy shots, I mean, at crazy times.
“I was getting riled up. People love to see that guy play, so they were getting behind him, too. Obviously, I would have loved to win tonight, but I think tennis won tonight. I think the crowd got what they expected. I just wish I was the one who got the W.”
Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, was among Tiafoe’s supporters in the crowd during Saturday’s semi-final. For Tiafoe, her presence added another surreal element to an already whirlwind fortnight.
“[It was] crazy getting to meet her after,” said the 24-year-old. “[I’ve] seen her before, but it’s a little bit different circumstance. She sees me and she’s actually excited to see me. Yeah, unbelievable. Unbelievable night.”
Tiafoe was full of praise for Alcaraz, who will take on Casper Ruud in Sunday’s championship match. Should the Spaniard triumph and lift his maiden Grand Slam crown, he will also become the youngest No. 1 spot in the history of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
“I think it’s going to be very tough to play him [in future],” said Tiafoe. “He’s one of the best players in the world, for sure. He’s so young. He hits the ball so hard. I never played a guy who moves as well as him, honestly. I’ve seen him get a lot of balls, but I was hitting some drop volleys that I’ve been hitting. He’s getting there. How he’s able to extend points, incredible.
“He’s a hell of a player. He’s going to be a problem for a very long time.”
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One particularly positive sign for Tiafoe moving forward is the way he handled the high-pressure moments during his run in New York. The 22nd seed won eight from eight tie-breaks he played across his six matches this fortnight, including two against Alcaraz on Friday.
“I don’t know,” said Tiafoe, when asked about the secret behind his tie-break success. “I guess the breakers are just making sense. I really don’t know what to say. Usually in the other breakers, I was serving huge. Today I wasn’t serving so well at all. So, I was playing really well from the back.
“To seven points, you can get a little rhythm. If you get hot early, get on the guy. Plus the crowd’s behind me. You know, the guy gets a little nervous.
“It’s not easy to go 8-0 in breakers. I played a lot in this tournament. I wish the fifth [set] was a breaker, because maybe I would have been 9-and-0.”
