The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has the US Open his first Grand Slamtitle and is now the youngest world number one in tennis history.
Carlos Alcaraz gave a mischievous look at the silver cup next to him and talked about catching up with his great idol Rafael Nadal in the distant future. “I have one, he has 22 – it’s my turn,” said the young Spanish tennis star, grinning broadly. The exceptional talent is still a little short of becoming the Grand Slam record winner, but the start has been made.
For Alcaraz, the US Open was a superlative tournament. With a perfect conclusion: The 19-year-old did not win due to the 6: 4, 2: 6, 7: 6 (7: 1) and 6: 3 in the final on Monday night (September 12th, 2022) against the Norwegian Casper Ruud just his first Grand Slam title. He also became the youngest number one ever in men’s tennis.
Alcaraz wants to shape a new era
“Carlos I, the new king of tennis,” wrote the sports newspaper “Marca”. For “El País” it is clear: “He is still at the age of self-discovery. He has powers that he does not yet know, punches that he does not yet know he can execute, sprints that he considers impossible. ” Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tweeted: “Congratulations Carlitos.”
The first teenager to top the world rankings wants to shape a new era. He is “hungry for more” and wants to remain number one “hopefully for many years”. His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero believes his protégé has just “reached 60 percent” of his potential. Nadal, who was one of the first to congratulate his 17-year-old compatriot via Twitter, also believes that “many more highlights will follow” for the youngster.
“He is the best player in the world at the moment”
The whole tennis world assumes that. Everyone suspected that the future would belong to Alcaraz. But at the US Open it turned out that he can already determine the present. “He’s the best player in the world at the moment,” said Ruud. The two finalists represent the youngest number one and two in the world rankings since Jimmy Connors and Björn Borg 47 years ago.
In addition, there are Jannik Sinner from Italy and Frances Tiafoe from the USA, who are also doing well in New York. At the US Open, a generation change took place for everyone to see. It remains to be seen whether Nadal, Novak Djokovic and above all Roger Federer can still keep up with the pace of the young stars. Alcaraz already set milestones at the US Open. In his seven games, he was on the pitch for a total of 23 hours and 40 minutes – longer than any other Grand Slam player since the official timekeeping in 1999.
The last person to storm to the US Open title with three five-set wins was Swede Stefan Edberg 30 years ago. Alcaraz had to be trained for this power first. As a 14-year-old, he was “as thin as spaghetti,” his trainer illustrated: “He had no muscles at all.” The power reserves also come from within, said Alcaraz: “You have to let everything you have on the pitch. This is not the time to be tired.”
In private life, the Spaniard is humble and modest – on the pitch the complete opposite. He always plays aggressively, full of energy and pushes himself after almost every ball win – also with the saying: “I’m a bull!” Alcaraz worships Federer as a player type, but his own style is more similar to Nadal’s. Speed, strength, precision, playfulness, endurance – Alcaraz combines almost everything from a young age. In some scenes you can still see his youthful impetuosity, but mistakes after too risky hits he usually smiles away, as in his first Grand Slam final.
Due to his enormous commitment, he wears out several pairs of shoes at every tournament. He can get over that alone because of the winner’s check in the amount of 2.6 million US dollars. He hopes for more trophies and a long era as number one. This is also believed in at home: “That was just the beginning,” wrote the newspaper “La Vanguardia” from Barcelona.