Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz claimed his first Grand Slam title at the US Open on Sunday, becoming the youngest man in the world rankings. The 19-year-old dragged his tired body to a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 victory over Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final. Alcaraz, the first teenager to claim the highest ranking, is the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Rafael Nadal at the French Open in 2005, after a performance that yielded 55 winners and 14 aces. In a day of sightseeing, he is also the youngest champion in New York since Pete Sampras in 1990.
It was a grueling tournament for Alcaraz, who claimed the record for the most time spent on the field during a single Grand Slam event, passing the 23 hours and 21 minutes it took Kevin Anderson to finish second at Wimbledon. in 2018.
The defeat for Ruud, who also competed for number one in the world ranking, was his second in a Slam final this year after being defeated by Nadal in the French Open.
With the roof closed, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd observed a moving silence on the 21st anniversary of the September 11 attacks before the final cautiously kicked off.
Both men saved breakpoints in their opening service games before Alcaraz took the lone break of the first set for an important 3-1 lead.
Ruud dropped the set, but triumphed in terms of sportsmanship when he called a double bounce on himself in the eighth game and awarded the point to the Spaniard.
Alcaraz served it out of love and a one-set lead courtesy of his 13 winners to six for the Norwegian.
The Spanish teenager, who entered the final with a 2-0 winning record over Ruud, lost a break point at 2-2 in the second set.
Ruud made him pay, moved up 4-2 and equalized on a second set point after another careless Alcaraz drop shot opened the field invitingly for the Norwegian.
At that point, Alcaraz had been on the field for nearly 22 hours at the tournament, crossing Andy Murray’s line as the Briton claimed the 2012 title.
He led 2-0 in the third set before Ruud hit back.
The 23-year-old Norwegian had two set points in an 11-minute 12th game, but was unable to convert as Alcaraz fired inch-perfect, back-to-back volleys.
Alcaraz took full advantage of his delay and raced on to his first tiebreak success of the tournament when Ruud’s game suddenly fell apart.
Sensing his chance, the Spaniard broke for 4-2 in the fourth set before bringing his number of aces to 12 to lead 5-2.
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Ruud held on to love, but Alcaraz claimed his piece of history on a second match point before collapsing on the court to celebrate.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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