Not many ATP players can say they have never been beaten by Carlos Alcaraz after playing him more than once.
Alcaraz is the world number one after winning the US Open title for the second time in his career, enabling him to overtake Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings.
The Spaniard has been very impressive this year, with Alcaraz only being beaten by six ATP players.
All of these players have been ranked inside the world’s top 60, but one player who has multiple wins over Alcaraz is now outside the top 600 in the ATP rankings.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty ImagesMikael Ymer: The ATP player who is unbeaten against Carlos Alcaraz
That person is Mikael Ymer, the Swedish ATP player who has been ranked as high as number 50 in the world rankings.
In 2021, when Alcaraz was just a teenager and still finding his feet on tour, he made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open at just 17 years old.
Alcaraz beat Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round, before he went head-to-head with Ymer.
Despite winning the first set, Alcaraz was unable to withstand the pressure he was put under by Ymer and was beaten 2-6 6-4 6-4 7-6(5).
Although he was able to beat the Spaniard, Ymer appeared to be very aware of the threat that Alcaraz could pose in future years when praising him after the match.
“I think he plays very good tennis and this of course I knew walking in, but what made me more impressed was that at this age he played so committed to his game style, no matter the score, even if he was down, even if he was up, breakpoint down, tiebreak,” Ymer said in his post-match press conference at the time.
“I assume this is what him and his team wants him to play, but I was really impressed because playing younger guys before…I’m not going to talk like I’m old, but I’m also looking back into my own career, that was one thing that takes a lot of time that I still face and I think there are players that face too, to really committing to what you have to do and he did it all throughout the match.
“So I was really impressed and I think I would have sat there and said the same thing if he would have won, which he definitely could have, that I think he is the big possibility to be the future of our sport. Not only to be a very good tennis player, but he’s a very, he looks like very, very nice…my first impression is that he’s a very nice guy.
“So I think he will be one of, not only good tennis player, great tennis player, but one of these kids that, one of these players that the kids are really going to look up to and have as a big role model.”
Alcaraz continued to rise up the rankings after this match, and won his first ATP title at the Croatia Open just months later.
However, after reaching his first ever semifinal on a hard court at the Winston-Salem Open, Alcaraz would face Ymer once again.
Despite having time to develop his game since their last encounter, it was Ymer who once again came out on top, this time with a straight sets victory over Alcaraz, and they have not played each other since then.
What has happened to Mikael Ymer since his last win over Carlos Alcaraz?
While Alcaraz has continually risen up the rankings since then and become a household name as a six-time Grand Slam champion, Ymer has faced some big struggles since then.
Ymer lost in the final of the Winston-Salem Open, but did still enjoy some highs after reaching his career-high ranking of world number 50 in 2023, the same year that he beat Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon.
However, it was after this Wimbledon Championships that things started to go downhill for Ymer.
In July 2023, it was announced that Ymer had been banned from tennis for 18 months after missing three anti-doping tests within a year.
This is something that Ymer contested, but the decision subsequently triggered him to announce his retirement in a shock announcement.
BREAKING 🚨
Mikael Ymer retires from professional tennis.
The Swedish tennis player had recently been suspended for 18 months for having missed some anti-doping tests.
He suddenly announced it on his social media channels. pic.twitter.com/q0FczhAi9A
— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) August 25, 2023
View Tweet
After having some time to reflect, Ymer elected to reverse this decision, and was able to return to competition from January 2025.
Ymer won a lower-level ITF 25k title in his first tournament back in Luxembourg, but he has struggled to find much more success than this.
It appears that injuries have played a part in why Ymer has been unable to return to his previous form, with the 27-year-old withdrawing from his most recent Challenger tournament, and he has not competed since August.
Ymer’s older brother, Elias Ymer, is still also active on the ATP Tour as the world number 243, but is currently on a five-match losing streak.