Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open and became the youngest man to climb the world number one ranking. The 19-year-old dragged his tired body to a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 victory over Norway’s Kasper Rood in the final. The teenager Alcarz, the first to claim the top ranking, is the youngest Grand Slam men’s champion since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 French Open, after a performance that saw 55 winners and 14 aces. On the day of the milestone, 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 court in a Grand Slam event, clocking 23 hours and 21 minutes as Kevin Anderson finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2018.
The loss for Roode, who was also vying for the world number one ranking, was his second loss to Nadal in this year’s Slam final since his loss at the French Open.
With the roof closed, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd witnessed a moving moment of silence on the 21st anniversary of the September 11 attacks, before the final got off to a tentative start.
Both men saved break points in their opening service game before Alcaraz secured the only break of the first set to lead 3–1.
Roode dropped the set but won in spirit when he called a double bounce on himself in the eighth game, conceding the Spaniard the point.
Alcaraz served it up for love and led a set for the Norwegians for six from their 13 winners.
The Spanish teenager, who went into the final with a 2-0 win over Rudd, lost a break point 2-2 in the second set.
Roode paid him, leading 4-2 and then leveling the final on a second set point after another careless Alkraj drop-shot opened the court invitingly for the Norwegian.
At that point, Alcaraz was on the court in the tournament for almost 22 hours, surpassing the mark set by Andy Murray when the Briton claimed the 2012 title.
He was 2-0 up in the third set before Roode returned.
The 23-year-old Norwegian had two set points in the 12th game of 11 minutes, but was unable to convert when Alcarz fired an inch-perfect, back-to-back volley.
Rushing through his first tiebreak success of the tournament, Alcarz made the most of his respite, as Roode’s game suddenly broke down.
The Spaniard seized his chance, breaking 4-2 in the fourth set to take his aces to 12 to take a 5-2 lead.
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Roode was held to make love, but Alcaraz claimed his piece of history at a second match point before falling on the court in celebration.
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