The Spaniard, who was just 19 years old at the time, won the final match in the United States over his Norwegian opponent, Ruud. He improved upon his previous Grand Slam victory by ascending to the number one spot in the world.
 |
| [Carlos Alcaraz, world's no. 1 tennis player] |
Everything came crashing down on Carlos Alcaraz just as he was about to achieve his greatest victory. After being completely taken aback, the Spanish superstar dropped his racquet and collapsed to the ground. He eventually mustered up some courage and raced to his box, where he was greeted by his loved ones, including his instructors and friends. The ecstatic tennis star wanted nothing more than to give a bear hug to every single person on the planet.
The tennis player, who was just 19 years old at the time, became the youngest player in the history of the sport to ever win a Grand Slam championship. Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud (23) of Norway in the championship match of the US Open, which took place on Monday night in New York City. The final score was 6: 4, 2: 6, 7: 6 (7: 1), 6: 3, and Alcaraz was rewarded with it twice: In his first Grand Slam final, he won the premiere, and he replaced Daniil Medvedev of Russia as the leader in the world rankings.
Alcaraz said, "It's something I've always dreamt about, becoming number one in the world and a champion at a Grand Slam," and he achieved both of those goals. "I'm going through a lot of different feelings right now, so it's hard for me to speak about this right now."
Alcaraz is the youngest man to ever hold the position of number one in the men's singles rankings. He is also the first teenager to win a Grand Slam tournament since his countryman Rafael Nadal in 2005 (French Open). The last time there was a younger winner at the US Open was the American Pete Sampras 32 years ago. One of the first people to congratulate Nadal was via Twitter: "This is the culmination of your first great season, there will certainly be many more."
A minute of silence was observed prior to the start of the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on the anniversary of the terrorist attack that occurred on September 11, 2001 in front of approximately 24,000 spectators. The winner, Alcaraz, was awarded prize money in the amount of 2.6 million US dollars, while the loser, Ruud, was awarded 1.3 million US dollars. Ruud had the potential to become the first Norwegian to win a Grand Slam tournament and be ranked number one in the world.
Both young stars actually started the match nervously, with Alcaraz suffering in the second set from the enormous strain of the previous six games with a total playing time of 20:19 hours. However, the Spaniard was able to successfully fight back. Ruud said before the match, "It's going to get on my nerves - and we'll both feel it."
Iga Swiatek of Poland had won the women's Grand Slam the day before. On Saturday, she defeated Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the final match, winning 6 games to 2, 7 games to 6. (7: 5)