Walking out for his first Grand Slam last at age 19, Carlos Alcaraz bumped fists with followers leaning over a railing alongside the trail resulting in the Arthur Ashe Stadium courtroom. Moments later, after the coin toss, Alcaraz turned to dash to the baseline for the warmup, till being beckoned again to the web by the chair umpire for the customary pre-match pictures.
Alcaraz is imbued with boundless enthusiasm and vitality, to not point out ability, pace, stamina and sangfroid. And now he’s a U.S. Open champion and the No. 1 participant in males’s tennis.
Using his unusual mixture of moxie and maturity, Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 on Sunday to each earn the trophy at Flushing Meadows and grow to be the youngest man to guide the ATP rankings.
The name heard around the 🌍
How it sounded on US Open Radio when @carlosalcaraz gained the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/aOB7c5fMqX
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2022
“Well, this is something that I dreamed of since I was a kid,” mentioned Alcaraz, whom of us of a sure age would possibly nonetheless take into account a child. “It’s something I worked really, really hard (for). It’s tough to talk right now. A lot of emotions.”
Alcaraz, who will transfer up three rating spots from No. 4 on Monday, already has attracted loads of consideration as somebody thought of the Next Big Thing in a sport dominated for many years by the Big Three of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
“He’s one of these few rare talents that comes up every now and then in sports. That’s what it seems like,” mentioned Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway. “Let’s see how his career develops, but it’s going all in the right direction.”
📸📸📸
Not the primary Grand Slam trophy @carlosalcaraz will pose with! pic.twitter.com/mSwj41vcIM
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2022
The Spaniard was serenaded by choruses of “Olé, Olé, Olé! Carlos!” that reverberated off the world’s closed roof — and Alcaraz usually motioned for the spectators to get louder. There have been a few magical factors that drew standing ovations, together with one Alcaraz misplaced with a laser of an on-the-run forehand whereas ending up face-down on his stomach.
He solely briefly confirmed indicators of fatigue from having to get via three consecutive five-setters within the three rounds proper earlier than the ultimate; nobody had gone via that arduous a route on the best way to the title in New York in 30 years.
Alcaraz went 5 units towards 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic within the fourth spherical, ending at 2:23 a.m. Tuesday; towards Jannik Sinner within the quarterfinals, a 5-hour, 15-minute thriller that ended at 2:50 a.m. Friday after Alcaraz wanted to avoid wasting a match level; and towards Frances Tiafoe within the semifinals.
Lift the trophy, @carlosalcaraz! 🏆
Let the confetti fly 🎉 pic.twitter.com/F2cfoFX0lO
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2022
“You have to give everything on court. You have to give everything you have inside. I worked really, really hard to earn it,” Alcaraz mentioned. “It’s not time to be tired.”
This was not a stroll to the end, although.
Alcaraz dropped the second set and confronted a pair of set factors whereas down 6-5 within the third. Could have been an outcome-altering second.
But he erased every of these point-from-the-set alternatives for Ruud with the kinds of quick-reflex, soft-hand volleys he repeatedly displayed.
The trophy is definitely worth the drained feeling from the final week 😴 pic.twitter.com/oqsTgy8XFG
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2022
And with assist from a collection of shanked photographs by a tight-looking Ruud within the ensuing tiebreaker, Alcaraz surged to the top of that set.
“He just played too good on those points. We’ve seen it many times before: He steps up when he needs to,” Ruud mentioned. “When it’s close, he pulls out great shots.”
One break within the fourth was all it took for Alcaraz to seal the victory in the one Grand Slam last between two gamers in search of each a primary main championship and the highest spot within the ATP’s computerized rankings, which date to 1973.
The winner was assured to be first in Monday’s rankings; the loser was assured to be second.
Dreams got here true immediately for @carlosalcaraz! pic.twitter.com/B3igk7LT36
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2022
“Both Carlos and I, we knew what we were playing for. We knew what was at stake,” mentioned Ruud, who entered the U.S. Open ranked No. 7. “I think it’s fitting. I’m disappointed, of course, that I’m not No. 1, but No. 2 is not too bad, either.”
He is now 0-2 in Slam finals after being the runner-up to Nadal on the French Open in June.
Much like Nadal, Ruud stood means again close to the wall to return serves, but additionally throughout the course of factors Sunday, way more so than Alcaraz, who attacked when he may.
Alcaraz went after Ruud’s weaker aspect, the backhand, and located success that means.
If nothing else, Ruud will get the sportsmanship award for conceding a degree he knew he didn’t deserve. It got here whereas he was trailing 4-3 within the first set; he raced ahead to a brief ball that bounced twice earlier than his racket touched it. Play continued, and Alcaraz hesitated then flubbed his response. Ruud informed the chair umpire what had occurred, giving the purpose to Alcaraz, who gave his foe a thumbs-up and applauded proper together with the gang.
Alcaraz definitely appears to be a uncommon expertise, possessing an all-court recreation, a mix of groundstroke energy with a willingness to push ahead. He gained 34 of the 45 factors that he completed on the web.
He is more and more a menace whereas serving — he delivered 14 aces at as much as 128 mph — and returning, incomes 11 break factors, changing three.
Alcaraz, Ruud mentioned, confirmed “incredible fighting spirit and will to win.”
Make no mistake: Ruud is not any slouch. There’s a motive he’s the youngest man since Nadal to get to 2 main finals in a single season and managed to win a 55-shot level, the longest of the event, within the semifinals.
But this was Alcaraz’s time to shine underneath the lights.
Some perspective: He is the primary teenager to win the U.S. Open since Pete Sampras in 1990 and the primary to triumph at any Slam since Nadal on the 2005 French Open.
That’s respectable firm.
Another method to perceive how precocious Alacaraz is: The final man to win this event in his first or second look was Pancho Gonzalez in 1948, earlier than execs have been allowed into the sector.
For context on the rankings, it’s useful to know that Novak Djokovic didn’t play on the U.S. Open or Australian Open this yr, unable to enter these nations as a result of isn’t vaccinated towards COVID-19, and didn’t obtain any rating increase for his Wimbledon championship as a result of no factors have been on supply for anybody after the All England Club banned athletes from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.
Regardless of the circumstances, it’s vital that Alcaraz is the primary male teenager at No. 1.
No one else did it. Not Nadal, not Djokovic, not Federer, not Sampras. No one.
When one final service winner glanced off Ruud’s body Sunday, Alcaraz dropped to his again on the courtroom, then rolled over onto his abdomen, protecting his face together with his fingers.
He went into the stands for hugs together with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former No. 1 himself who gained the French Open in 2003 and reached the ultimate of that yr’s U.S. Open, and others, crying all of the whereas.
You solely get to No. 1 for the primary time as soon as. You solely win a primary Grand Slam title as soon as. Many of us count on Alcaraz to be celebrating these kinds of feats for years to come back.
