For the first time since the 2019 US Open, fans waved Spanish flags in Arthur Ashe Stadium following a tense men’s singles final—though for a (relatively) new face in town.
Carlos Alcaraz of Murcia, Spain, won a three-hour, 20-minute battle across four sets on Sunday night to claim victory over Norwegian Casper Ruud: 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3. With his victory, the 19-year-old will become the new world No. 1 on Monday—as his fifth-seeded opponent slides into the world No. 2 ranking.
The final day of the 2022 US Open saw five finals, three of which took place in Louis Armstrong Stadium: Wheelchair men’s singles kicked off the day in Louie, followed by wheelchair women’s singles and wheelchair quad singles championship matches.
The women’s doubles final between No. 3 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Americans Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend was pushed to a thrilling three sets. The subsequent Alcaraz-Ruud men’s singles blockbuster closed out play for the day and the fortnight.
Read more below.
Alcaraz defeats Ruud in four
It’s so easy to conflate the story of men’s tennis in the 21st century with the achievements of three men.
Since 2004, the Big Three—Switzerland’s 41-year-old Roger Federer, Spain’s 36-year-old Rafael Nadal, and Serbia’s 35-year-old Novak Djokovic—have claimed a staggering 62 of 75 contested Grand Slam titles. One of the three has appeared in a final 69 of 75 possible times. But since the turn of the decade, the US Open hasn’t showcased the future of men’s tennis so much as the “now.”
Yes, Nadal and Djokovic remain extraordinary players: Just this calendar year, Nadal won the Australian Open and his 14th Roland Garros—while Djokovic claimed Wimbledon. (Following his third knee surgery since Wimbledon in 2021, which has kept him off the court for more than a year, Federer suggested he’ll return to the tour in some capacity in 2023.) But the world has obviously become an infinitely more complicated place since Nadal took home his fourth US Open trophy in 2019.
Dominic Thiem of Austria brushed past Alexander Zverev in five sets, capped by a decisive tiebreak, to take the 2020 men’s singles title. The following year, Daniil Medvedev denied Djokovic the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969 via a straight-sets stunner.
Zverev couldn’t compete in New York this year, recovering from a nasty ankle injury sustained in the Roland Garros semis. Medvedev, who has been up-and-down this season, fell to Australian Nick Kyrgios in a Round 4 four-setter.
On Sunday, Alcaraz fully realized his potential in a four-set, takedown of Norway’s Ruud–earning both his first Grand Slam title and the world No. 1 title in the process.
The players seemed evenly matched during the first hour or so of play, though an early break in the first set’s third game enabled Alcaraz to take the opener. But Alcaraz was unable to convert a break point in the fifth game of set two–and couldn’t maintain the stellar level of play. The No. 3 seed sprayed balls wide and showed signs of fatigue as Ruud took the second set for himself, 6-2.
As he has throughout the tournament—the Spaniard has played 23 hours, 40 minutes on court since his racquet first smacked a ball in Round 1—Alcaraz rebounded in the 73-minute third set, matching Ruud game for game and saving two set points before blasting through a tiebreak.
The teenager closed out the match with a service winner that his opponent simply couldn’t counter, championship point arriving three hours and 20 minutes after play began.
During his post-match remarks, a composed Ruud first addressed the match falling on September 11, which he called an “emotional day” for Americans. Then he moved on to speak about the match, saying: “We knew what we were playing for, what was at stake.” He called it “fitting” that the winner was crowned world No. 1: “I’m disappointed I’m not No. 1, but No. 2 is not bad either,” he said. The Norwegian then paid tribute to his family.
The victor then stepped up to speak: “This is something I dreamed of since I was a kid, to be No. 1, to be champion of a Grand Slam—it’s tough to talk right now,” Alcaraz said in a victory speech, voice cracking. "I’m just 19 years old, so all the tough decisions are with my parents, my team as well.”
After winning, Alcaraz cried through a smile on the player bench—later explaining that he was thinking of his mother and grandfather, who couldn’t attend.
Discussing the eye-popping amount of time he spent on court throughout the tournament, Alcaraz said: “I always say that it’s not time to be tired in the final round of a Grand Slam, or any tournament. You have to give everything you have on court, give everything you have on the inside.”
Krejcikova and Siniakova earn a career Golden Slam
The only thing better than winning a career Golden Slam? Two long-time partners doing it together.
Krejickova and Siniakova of the Czech Republic, both 26, have worked together for more than a decade: They won the girls’ doubles titles at multiple Grand Slam tournaments in 2013.
The duo stuck together and rolled through achievement after achievement as professional players, winning the Roland Garros and Wimbledon doubles competitions in 2018. They claimed gold at the Tokyo Olympics soon after they won their third Slam on Parisian clay in 2021.
But it wasn’t until this January that Krejcikova and Siniakova won their first Australian Open title. Appropriately, they followed it with their first US Open title on Sunday—fighting back from a set and 4-1 down to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"I think that the match was very difficult," Krejcikova said in a press conference. "I felt like we were just down for a very long time. But I felt we were still in the game and we tried to fight for every single ball. Suddenly the game just started to go on our side.”
Read more in our wrap, below.
Wheelchair in Louis Armstrong Stadium:
Two No. 1 seeds defeated their second-seeded opponents in wheelchair finals on Sunday afternoon in Louis Armstrong Stadium, with three of the four players of Dutch origin. First, the Netherlands’ Diede De Groot came back from a set down to defeat Japan’s Yui Kamiji 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in two hours, 13 minutes.
The victory marked De Groot’s 31st Grand Slam title.
In an all-Dutch wheelchair quad singles final, No. 1 seed Niels Vink managed No. 2 seed Sam Schroder in a much easier 83 minutes: 7-5, 6-3.
But the first match in Armstrong was arguably the most dramatic. Though wheelchair men’s single No. 1 seed Shingo Kunieda has amassed 50 Grand Slam titles, he’s never been able to win all four major tournaments in a single year. The 38-year-old looked to do so in 2022, but Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett—another No. 2 seed—downed the legend in an hour and 48 minutes, 7-6(2), 6-1.
"I want to dedicate this to my granddad. I hope you haven't turned off the TV because I know you hate when it gets close," Hewett said.
Tweet of the day:
Quote of the day:
“It’s not time to be tired.” –Carlos Alcaraz
Parting shot: Alcaraz smiles after laying out for a ball in the men's final. He was all smiles post-match, too.
