Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz captured the US Open, his first Grand Slam, on Sunday by beating Casper Ruud in the Norwegian final, and climbs from fourth to first place in the tennis world ranking.
At the age of 19, Alcaraz, who defeated Casper Ruud, seventh in the hierarchy, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1) and 6-3, becomes the youngest world leader in three hours and 23 minutes. ever and surpassed the record of Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who reached the top in 2000 at the age of 20 years and nine months.
“I worked hard to live such a moment and become a Grand Slam champion. It was not a time to be tired. I gave everything and I am very happy. I am only 19 years old and all my achievements are shared with my team, my family and everyone who has helped me. I have thought a lot about my grandfather and all the people who stayed in Spain and couldn’t join me here in New York,” he said emotionally.
The Murcian-born tennis player won his first major in his first Grand Slam final and added his sixth title, having won the 1000 Masters in Madrid and Miami and in Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro, in 2022, and in Umag. , last year, in seven finals, having already been defeated in Umag and Hamburg this year.
At Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz defeated Casper Rudd, 23, who lost again in the final of a major after defeating Roland Garros, in June, against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, in what was his 13th final, with eight wins. , in Gstaad and Geneva, in 2021 and 2022, in Buenos Aires, in 2020 and this year, with others last year, in San Diego, Kitzbuhel and Bastad.
Carlitos has tennis in his blood and a talent that promised to take him to his peak ten years ago. The son of Virginia Garfia and Carlos Alcaraz, he discovered tennis at the age of four on one of the club’s many fields in El Palmar, where his father, a second-rate tennis player, was director. Like his three brothers, it was there that he started playing at the age of four and where his father realized he was facing a child prodigy, “because of his familiarity with the racket”.
He never got tired of being on the field and before long he was competing and putting his family in a financial dilemma. His father saw in him the opportunity to participate in the U-10 World Cup, but the trips to Croatia were “unbearable”. That prompted coach Kiko Navarro to turn to a patron – Alfonso López Rueda, of Postres Reina – so that Alcaraz could play in the World Cup at the age of nine. “That’s where it all started,” the technician told Vanguardia newspaper.
“Childhood Dream”
Carlos Alcara, already with the trophy in his hands, confessed in the early hours of this Monday that he has realized a “child’s dream” by reaching the lead of the world rankings.
“Being number one in the world is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. Being a Grand Slam champion was something I worked really hard for. It’s hard to say now, there are so many emotions.”he added, at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“This is something I’ve always tried to achieve. All the hard work I’ve done with my team and family. I’m only 19 years old, all the hard decisions were made with my team and family. This is really special for me.”he said.
Alcaraz became the youngest US Open winner since Pete Sampras in 1990.
“There’s no time to get tired in the final rounds of the Grand Slam and any other tournament. You have to be ready and give everything you have. It’s something I’ve worked hard for.”explains Alcaraz, successor to the Russian Daniil Medvedev in New York.
Source: DN
