Carlos Alcaraz gained the 2022 US Open on Sunday, incomes his first Grand Slam title. The 19-year-old additionally turned the youngest world No. 1 within the historical past of the ATP rankings. Alcaraz’s earlier career-high was No. 4, however he has accomplished all the proper issues this 12 months to make the leap and solidify the truth that he’s Spain’s subsequent tennis star.
Alcaraz is the primary teenage World No. 1 and likewise the fourth male Spanish participant to achieve that rating, becoming a member of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya, and Rafael Nadal.
He achieved this by taking a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory in opposition to Casper Ruud at Flushing Meadows. If Ruud had gained, he would’ve been No. 1. Alcaraz gave some jaw-dropping performances throughout his US Open run, together with intense five-set battles in opposition to Jannik Sinner and Frances Tiafoe.
“I’d say I overcame myself a bit bit,” Alcaraz mentioned through the press convention. “I imply, yeah, I performed an incredible matches, excessive depth, through the two weeks that I’ve by no means accomplished earlier than.”
At 19 years, 129 days previous, Alcaraz turned the youngest participant to win a males’s US Open title since Pete Sampras in 1990. He can be the seventh youngest participant — male or feminine — to ever win a Grand Slam. Before that victory, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Nadal had gained 20 of the earlier 22 main titles. Djokovic and Federer didn’t compete at Flushing Meadows this 12 months.
Alcaraz has been on the rise for some time, however this has been a breakout season for him. It began with being seeded for the primary time at a Grand Slam throughout on the 2022 Australian Open, by which he reached the third spherical.
Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, Alcaraz turned the youngest participant to ever compete in a Madrid Open last. His journey there included taking down Nadal within the quarterfinals a day after his birthday. He then took down the then-world No. 1 and high seed Djokovic within the semifinals — changing into the youngest participant to beat Nadal and Djokovic back-to-back on clay.
Ruud fell in need of the highest rating however his efforts in his US Open run didn’t go unrewarded. The 23-year-old from Norway reached a career-best No. 2 on Monday. Nadal, who fell to Tiafoe within the spherical of 16, was in a position to preserve the No. 3 spot. Meanwhile, Tiafoe wasn’t in a position to finish the Americans’ lengthy streak with no Grand Slam title in a males’s competitors, however he turned the primary American man to achieve semifinals since 2006, and was rewarded by reaching a career-best No. 19 rating.
