Carlos Alcaraz wins US Open, becomes new world number one
19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, on Sunday, scripted history as he became the youngest world number one in ATP Rankings after winning the US Open. The Spaniard bested the number five seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 to grab hold of his maiden Grand Slam title. He is the fourth Spanish to attain the feat and the second youngest to win US open ever.
Alcaraz joins an elite list
Alcaraz, who was ranked 55th at the time of the 2021 US open, entered the 2022 edition as the number four ranked player. As per ATP, he has become only the fourth player to leapfrog from fourth to the top spot in one ATP Rankings release. Moya (March 15, 1999), Andre Agassi (July 5, 1999), and Pete Sampras (September 11, 2000) are the others.
Alcaraz slams these records
As per ATP, Alcaraz is only the fourth Spanish to win the US Open title after Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya, and Rafael Nadal. And, he is only the 28th player to become the world number one. He is the sixth active player to reach atop the heap, joining the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Nadal, Andy Murray, and Daniil Medvedev.
Alcaraz matches this feat of Djokovic
As per ATP, Alcaraz is the first player since Djokovic in 2019 to save a match point en route to a Grand Slam title. The former world number one had saved two against veteran Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
Alcaraz emulates tennis legends
As per Opta, Alcaraz has become the third player in the Open Era to win the US Open title at their first or second main draw appearance after Arthur Ashe in 1968 and Rod Laver in 1969.
Alcaraz is 24-7 across Grand Slams
Alcaraz now owns a 24-7 win-loss record at Grand Slam events, including 11-1 at the US Open. He made his US Open debut last year and had made it to the quarters. This time, he has managed to go a step above. It was also his maiden semi-final appearance at Grand Slams. He reached the quarters at Roland Garros earlier this year.
Second-youngest US Open champion
Alcaraz has become the second-youngest man to win the US Open title in the Open Era, at 19 years and 129 days. He is only behind legend Sampras, who won the tournament in 1990 (19 days and 15 days). The former broke the record of Lleyton Hewitt, who won the US Open in 2001 at 20 years and 187 days.
Most wins on the ATP Tour in 2022
Alcaraz enjoys a daunting 51-9 record in 2022 and is five wins ahead of second-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas (46). He also leapfrogged to the first spot in the ATP Live Race to Turin and could be the youngest year-end world number one.
Some more note-worthy feats attained by Alcaraz
As per ATP, Alcaraz (19) and Ruud (23) are the second-youngest top two ever in the history of ATP Rankings, trailing world number one Jimmy Connors (22) and world number two Bjorn Borg (18) in 1975. Notably, this is the first time since 2003 that there have been two world number one in the same season (Medvedev and Alcaraz).
A year to remember for Alcaraz!
Earlier this year, Alcaraz became the second-youngest to pocket two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Miami and Madrid), ranking behind Nadal (2005). He also etched his name as the youngest ATP 500 titlist with a win in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a title in Barcelona.
