Athletes who marked the year 2022! Championships, records, historic moments…

2022 will also be remembered as the year of some athletes who achieved great success in their careers. In the past year, some talented young athletes proved that they will be among the top star candidates of the future with their great performances, while some stars reached the peak of their careers.

In football, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, who played for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the representative of France, took the lead among the names that excited sports fans in 2022 with their outstanding performances, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur. in tennis and Max Verstappen in Formula 1.

LIONEL MESSI FINALLY SUCCESSFUL!

Despite numerous successes in his club career, unsuccessful results in the finals of international matches became Messi’s worst nightmare.

Losing 3 finals in the Copa América, where the best team on the South American continent in the Messi era was determined, Argentina lost 3-0 to Brazil in 2007, and was eliminated on penalties after extra time by Chile in 2015 and 2016.

Messi’s misfortune ended in 2021 in Argentina, which came second after losing 1-0 to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.

In the 2021 Copa América final, Argentina, who played hosts Brazil at the historic Maracana Stadium, defeated their rival 1-0 and took this trophy back to their museum after 1993.

Messi’s Argentina, who beat Italy 3-0 in the 2022 Final, where the winner of Euro 2020 and the 2021 Copa América champion met, went through France in the final on penalties in the World Cup final. Soccer 2022, where successive international successes started with self-confidence After a year off, this tournament came to a happy ending.

Having scored 98 goals in 172 appearances in the national jersey, Messi has regained his old success stats since 2022 at PSG, where he had an adjustment period last year after leaving Barcelona, ​​where he grew from his infrastructure. The 35-year-old Messi, who made 19 appearances on all lanes for the French representative this season, hit the net 12 times and passed 14 goals to his teammates.

THE FUTURE NUMBER 1 MBAPPE

Despite being only 24 years old, Mbappé, who is already one of the best players in French history, has also had some great success this season.

Mbappé, who enjoyed the 2018 World Cup in the national jersey and was chosen as the best young player, swept the Qatar tournament. The French striker, who hit the net 8 times, 3 of them in the final, and completed the cup’s top scorer career, showed with his outstanding performance that he is the most important star candidate of the future.

Leading the king’s career with 12 league goals for PSG, Mbappé shares top spot with Liverpool’s Egyptian star Muhammed Salah in the UEFA Champions League, where he netted 7 times.

ALCARAZ LOVED THE SUMMIT

In tennis, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz in men and the Polish Iga Swiatek in women earned the admiration of sports fans with the tournaments they won consecutively at their young age and enjoyed completing the season at the top of the world ranking.

The Spanish Alcaraz, who has made a name for himself with the success he has achieved in a short time among the promises of tennis in men’s singles, finished the season with 5 trophies.

Alcaraz, who won more than $10 million in prize money from the tournaments he participated in this season, became a partner with his predecessor Rafael Nadal in the record for the youngest tennis player to break into the top 10 in the world rankings by reach the trophy at the Rio Open, the Miami Open (ATP 1000 tournament) and the Barcelona Open.

Alcaraz reached the cup by beating Nadal, the only male tennis player to have 22 Grand Slam titles in his career, in the quarterfinals of the other ATP 1000 Madrid Open tournament, former world number 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, and the German. Alexander Zverev, one of the fit figures of recent years, in the final. With this success, Alcaraz made history as the first tennis player to defeat both Djokovic and Nadal in a single tournament in a row.

The fast-paced young talent beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 3-1 in the final of the season’s final Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, to pick up his first career Grand Slam victory.

Alcaraz, who started the year ranked 32nd in the world ranking, remains at the top since September, after his important achievements. The 19-year-old tennis player also holds the record for the youngest tennis player to top the Association of Professional Tennis (ATP) rankings.

SWIATEK FEMALE TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

The Australian tennis player Ashleigh Barty, one of the tennis players who has left her mark in recent years with her successes, wondered if the gap left at the top could be filled with the surprise decision to retire at an early age after winning the first Grand Slam of the Open in Australia of the season, fell off the agenda in no time with the outstanding performance of Swiatek.

The Polish racket, who won the trophy at the Qatar Open, Indian Wells and Miami Open, had a fast start to the season with the record for the first tennis player to win 3 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 tournaments in a row.

After winning the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open title, Swiatek continued to dominate the court at the French Open (Roland Garros), the second Grand Slam tournament of the season, which she previously won in 2020. In the final, which It lasted just 68 minutes, the 21-year-old tennis player, who beat 18-year-old American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 sets, 2-0 without difficulty, repeated the same thing. success once.

Forgetting defeat during these tournaments, Swiatek eventually surpassed the series win records set by the legendary Williams brothers in the 2000s and delivered one of the most outstanding performances in women’s tennis in recent times. Swiatek, who won 37 straight games in this process, surpassed the 34-game streak of Serena Williams and the 35-game streak of her sister Venus de ella, who won 23 Grand Slam titles in her career.

Continuing his outstanding performance throughout the season, Poland’s Swiatek earned his second Grand Slam victory of the season at the US Open. Completing the season with 8 trophies and 67 wins with victories at the Rome Open and the San Diego Open, Iga was also awarded the best tennis player of the year by the WTA.

JABEUR MAKES HISTORY

Tunisian Onza Jabeur experienced the second big break of the season in women’s singles tennis.

Having reached the finals at the US Open and Wimbledon, Jabeur clinched the trophy at the Madrid Open and the German Open, which are the major tournaments of the season.

The 28-year-old, who rose from tenth to second in the world rankings, made history as the first African and Arab tennis player to play in a Grand Slam final, win the WTA 1000 tournament and reach the highest category.

VERSTAPPEN AGAIN WITH RECORDS…

Red Bull driver Max Verstapen, who had a highly contentious championship fight with legendary Mercedes team driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain in Formula 1 last season, and won the championship by winning the last race, which was controversial due to the decisions of the referees. , scattered the shadows on his success with his superior performance this season.

The Dutch driver, who won a total of 15 races in the 2022 season and scored 5 consecutive victories, became the “Formula 1 World Champion” for the second time in a row with his victory at the Japanese Grand Prix with 4 remaining. races to complete the season.

Verstappen made his way into motorsports history by breaking the records for the most race wins and the most points (454) by drivers in a season in F1.

The 25-year-old, who finished the season on a high with 146 points clear of his closest rival, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, has won 9 of the last 11 races he has entered, and his name ranks among Alberto Ascari, Jim Clark, Mika Hakkinen and Fernando Alonso, who have repeated this success before, printed it. (AA)