When Carlos Alcaraz won his sixth Grand Slam title on Sunday, he did so by thoroughly outclassing the world's number one player in probably the best performance of his career so far.
Defending US Open champion Jannik Sinner - whose record on hard courts over the past two seasons is among the most imperious of any player on any surface in tennis history - was induced into a timid display in which he was overawed by the Spaniard.
The quality of Alcaraz's performance in his 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory led to something of an existential crisis in Sinner, who insisted afterwards that he needs to revamp his game in order to match Alcaraz's level.
For his part, Alcaraz believes he is reaching new heights.
I played perfectly, he said after lifting the trophy. This is the best tournament so far that I have ever played. The consistency of my level has been really, really high - it's something I've been working on.
At age 22, Alcaraz is already talked about among the sport's greatest ever players. But just how well does he rank against them so far?
Since Alcaraz joined the ATP Tour as a 16-year-old, he has been lauded for the variety of his play, combining cutting low slices with ferocious forehands and deft drop shots to win points in breathtaking ways.
Alcaraz has now won two Grand Slams on hard, grass, and clay surfaces – only Rafael Nadal (aged 24), Mats Wilander (aged 24), and Novak Djokovic (aged 34) have achieved the same feat in the men's game.
The speed at which Alcaraz is racking up the majors is astonishing, too - he has taken only 18 tournaments to win six slams, equalling the record set by Bjorn Borg in 1978.
Considering that he won his first Grand Slam title in New York in 2022 at the age of 19 and achieved two majors per year since then, his trajectory could see him equal Djokovic's tally of 24 by 2034.
Alcaraz has already demonstrated that he belongs among the very best players the sport has known, and many are eager to see how his journey unfolds toward becoming potentially the greatest ever.
