"The answer to the question of what happens when Federer and Nadal retire" - Tennis fans elated as Carlos Alcaraz makes history in Miami

Carlos Alcaraz made history at the Miami Masters on Sunday, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament's 37-year history. The 18-year-old Spaniard defeated World No. 8 Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 in the final, notching up his first Masters 1000 title in the process.

Only two male players have won an ATP 1000 title when they were younger than the Spaniard -- Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz also became the first Spaniard to lift the trophy in Miami, breaking the eight-match losing streak of his countrymen in finals.

Quite naturally, the teenage sensation's success was enough to send tennis fans on social media into a tizzy. Many saw his recent triumph as proof that he is the future of tennis. They inevitably compared Alcaraz to the Big 3 and boldly declared that the sport will be in safe hands after the legendary trio's retirement.

"The answer to the question ‘what happens when Federer and Nadal retire?’ Carlos Alcaraz. To the Djokovic fans inevitably taking offence at this tweet, he isn’t a new arrival, and he ain’t retiring any time soon," tennis commentator David Law wrote.

"Djokovic and Nadal used to produce these high intensity, physical performances day in and day out when they were in their prime. We are seeing those signs in Alcaraz," another fan wrote.

More than a few fans hoped to be treated to a match between Djokovic and Alcaraz by the end of the year. The pair have never met on the ATP tour till date, but that did not stop Twitter users from predicting that it would be a guaranteed blockbuster.

"Djokovic-Alcaraz on a hard court will be ridiculous tennis," one user posted.

Amidst all this hype, there was also a large group of Alcaraz supporters who worried that it might prove counter-productive to place such high expectations on the teenager so soon. At the same time, many had the World No. 11's back, insisting that even if he undergoes a blip in the coming days, he has what it takes to be the very best in the business.

"Carlos Alcaraz putting the rest of the tour on notice at the age of 18 is easily one of the most badass things to happen in all of tennis recently," one fan tweeted.

"One of the reasons I like Alcaraz is that he breaks from the "big serving counterpuncher" meta dominating ATP tennis atm- I love variety in the game. Please, if you can tho, chill a bit with the hype - it benefits no one," another fan tweeted.

"Hyping Alcaraz up doesn’t mean that he WONT have any bumps along the way. There will be several. There will be leads blown, several losses, times where pressure gets to him, injuries, other rivals who stop him. That is part of the journey, just as it is for all the best players," one account wrote.

Carlos Alcaraz will make his Monte-Carlo Masters debut next week

Carlos Alcaraz will be in action at the Monte-Carlo Masters up next

Following his historic Miami triumph, Carlos Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Monte-Carlo Masters up next. It will mark the World No. 11's debut in the tournament.

The Spaniard missed out on the tournament last year due to entry ranking restrictions, but will be seeded in the top 10 this year.

Alcaraz will be joined in the Masters 1000 event by seven top-10 players, including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 3 Alexander Zverev and defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal are the notable absentees.