Carlos Alcaraz wins the tournament and reaches the world number one

Carlos Alcaraz had two dreams: to win a Grand Slam tournament and to become world number one. He did both on Sunday, beating Casper Ruud in four sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the US Open final.

It all came down to the tiebreaker in the third set. The two players each had a sleeve in their pocket. The start of the third went to Alcaraz, who broke Ruud early on, but the Norwegian came back stronger with a break three games later. All other points were hotly contested and the two gladiators went to the tiebreaker, just after the Spaniard had rejected two set points.

It was during the last game that Alcaraz proved they deserved to be champions. Biting serves, powerful returns and a game far superior to that of his opponent, who saw everything he had built for almost three hours crumble. Balls hitting his racquet frame, unforced errors and broken rhythm. The 19-year-old rode away with the round and ultimately the championship.

There was enough to be feverish at the dawn of this final. Two young players in their prime who have had an exceptional year and who have emerged as the faces of a new generation. At stake, the last major of the season, but above all the top of the world ranking. A double or quits as rarely is presented.

“It was a special day for Carlos and me. We knew what we were playing for. We knew what was at stake,” Ruud said after the loss.

Alcaraz still displayed the label of favorite. His marathon quarter-final and semi-final matches against Jannik Sinner and Frances Tiafoe will be etched in the memory of tennis fans for a long time. The Spaniard had also won four titles this season, including three on clay, his favorite surface. The revelation of the year 2022 had a date with history at the Arthur-Ashe stadium, he who, barely a year ago, won the ATP NextGen tournament reserved for the best hopes in tennis.

A quality finish

This match can hardly be summarized by a simple statistical analysis. This final offered a game so pure that it would be unhealthy to stick only to the number of breaks and winning strokes.

Alcaraz and Ruud offered inspired play and a final that could be shown to aliens to explain quality tennis. Varied shots, going up to the net, spectacular plays, gestures of sportsmanship and the demonstration of phenomenal mastery will have marked this final between two players who were in search of a first Grand Slam title.

In the end, Alcaraz was able to exploit the only weakness that Ruud let appear: his returns and the balls in the back of the field on the backhand side. Which is all in all quite surprising, given that at the start of the match, it was Alcaraz who was forced to make mistakes. The 23-year-old Norwegian pushed a lot of balls downfield and caught all of his opponent’s attacks. For his part, Alcaraz was looking too much for the perfect game, missing his drop shots and miscalculating his climbs to the net.

Fatigue and pressure

As Alcaraz had played much more than Ruud during the fortnight, it was only fitting that the Spaniard at times seemed more exhausted than his rival. However, even if it was not obvious, Ruud took advantage of this situation. He made his opponent walk around a lot and won the vast majority of exchanges that exceeded ten shots.

However, Alcaraz wanted to fight and he was ready to push his limits. Moreover, in Montreal a few weeks ago, he had been eliminated in his first match and after this one, he had explained that being identified as the second seed had perhaps put too much pressure on him. This pressure has multiplied in the Big Apple, even if it seems built for the big moments.

“I’m a little tired,” he said laughing after the game. It was no time to be tired in the last game of a major tournament. You have to give everything. I worked too hard to be here. »

He shrugged off the fatigue and pressure to win round four quite easily. He had become explosive again, precise, and his legs seemed so light. The young man was on a mission.

He wrapped up his first Grand Slam tournament final with an outgoing serve that Ruud barely grazed.

“I’ve had this dream since I first held a racquet. I worked so hard. It’s hard to express how I feel right now. »

To thunderous applause from the 23,000 people gathered to witness history, Alcaraz became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam tournament since Rafael Nadal in 2005, but most importantly, the youngest world number one of all. the temperature.