Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday claimed his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open, becoming the youngest man to ascend to the world No. 1 ranking and cementing his status as the poster boy of tennis’ new wave.
The 19-year-old dragged his weary body to a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 victory over Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final.
Alcaraz, the first teenager to claim the top ranking, is the youngest Grand Slam men’s champion since his idol Rafael Nadal at the 2005 French Open.
Photo: AFP
On a day of landmarks, he is also the youngest champion in New York since Pete Sampras in 1990.
“Right now I’m enjoying the moment. I’m enjoying having the trophy in my hands, but, of course, I’m hungry for more,” Alcaraz said.
“I want to be in the top for many, many weeks and hopefully many years. I’m going to work hard again after this week, this amazing two weeks. I’m going to fight for more of this,” he said.
Despite being at the vanguard of tennis’ modern era, his performance on Sunday also contained elements of a bygone age — he won 15 points off 21 serve-and-volley attempts.
It was a grueling tournament for Alcaraz.
On Sunday, he claimed the record for most time spent on court at a single Grand Slam, passing the 23 hours and 21 minutes it took Kevin Anderson to finish runner-up at Wimbledon in 2018.
Most of his 23 hours and 40 minutes were taken up by the more than 13 hours it took him to play three successive five-setters to reach the final.
He saved a match point in his five-hour, 15-minute quarter-final win over Jannik Sinner.
Nadal was quick to congratulate the player widely seen as his successor.
“Congratulations @carlosalcaraz for your first Grand Slam and for number 1, which is the culmination of your great season. I am sure there will be many more,” the 22-time Slam title winner wrote on Twitter.
The US Open is Alcaraz’s fifth trophy of the year following Masters triumphs in Miami and Madrid as well as Rio and Barcelona.
It was in Madrid that he announced himself as a serious threat to the sport’s heavyweights when he became the first man to defeat Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same clay-court event.
Alcaraz’s career earnings are already close to US$10 million.
“Carlos was born to play these tournaments,” said his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former No. 1 and French Open champion.
Defeat for Ruud, who was also vying for the world No. 1 ranking, was his second in a Slam final this year after he was routed by Nadal in the French Open.
“It’s incredibly impressive what he has achieved already as a teenager,” said Ruud, who was yesterday to rise to No. 1 in the world. “He’s one of these few rare talents that comes up every now and then in sports.”
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