Carlos Alcaraz has become the youngest tennis player since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to break into the world top 10 after outclassing top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Friday night.

The 18-year-old Spanish wunderkind, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open earlier this month, continued his high-flying form and overcame a late rally from the Greek world number five with a hard-earned 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory.

"Probably my biggest win on clay court. It was unbelievable," he beamed. "Unbelievable game that I played, unbelievable atmosphere that I lived today on court. It was unbelievable everything. The atmosphere here, the crowd, the level that I played, the level of the match. It was incredible."

Alcaraz's progress over the past few years has been stunning. He made his ATP main draw debut at the Rio Open in 2020 and qualified for his first grand slam main draw at the Australian Open in 2021. At last year's U.S. Open, he reached his first grand slam quarterfinal. And this February, he became the youngest ATP 500 champion when he triumphed at the Rio Open.

Alcaraz is considered a potential successor to his compatriot Nadal, who is reaching the twilight of his career. And the 35-year-old, who has won a record 21 grand slam men's singles titles, spoke highly of the promising youngster at Indian Wells in March.

"I think [Alcaraz] is unstoppable in terms of his career," said Nadal. "He has all the ingredients. He has the passion. He's humble enough to work hard."