US Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz wins US Open, becomes youngest Men's No. 1

The Spaniard becomes the fourth Spanish player to ascend to the top rank.

Carlos Alcaraz used his combination of agility and maturity to beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the U.S. Open final on Sunday to earn his first Grand Slam title at age 19. Alcaraz becomes the youngest man to be ranked No. 1. He is now the fourth Spaniard, behind Nadal (22) Carlos Moya (22) and his mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero, to ascend to the top rank on the ATP list.

The US Open 2022 has now concluded with the men's singles final last night. The following are the winners of each category. Iga Swiatek defeated Jabeur to win the 2022 US Open women’s singles final title. R. Ram and J. Salisbury won the men's doubles category while K. Siniakova and Krej Cikova won the women's doubles. S. Sanders and J. Peers won the mixed doubles category

First major title

In a match that lasted around three and half hours, the Spanish teenager beat Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 in the U.S. Open final. Alcaraz, overwhelmed by the victory, fell to his back and cupped his hands to his face, rolling over before jumping up to offer a hug at the net to Ruud. The impressive Alcaraz, who thrilled fans over the two-week tournament in New York with his acrobatic shot-making, youthful vigour and late-night finishes, replaced Russian Daniil Medvedev at the top of the rankings. Alcaraz is the youngest-ever world number one since ATP rankings began in 1973.

Youngest Men's No.1

At 19 years and 129 days, Alcaraz has become the second-youngest US Open champion. Pete Sampras won the major in New York in 1990 being only 19 years and 15 days old, becoming the youngest ever to win US Open, a record he still holds. Overall, Alcaraz is the 11th teenager to win a major and the youngest Grand Slam champion since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 French Open.

Alcaraz is a native of the tiny Spanish village of El Palmar. He acquired his tennis skills in a training facility run by his father, a semi-pro. He won multiple Spanish and European championships when he was a young athlete. Alcaraz won his debut ATP match against Albert Ramos Vinolas in 2020, barely 16 years old. Former No. 1 player in the world Juan Carlos Ferrero is his trainer. Ferrero hopes to see Alcaraz win 30 Grand Slams and has been working with him since he was 15 years old.

In May 2022, Alcaraz advanced to the Madrid Open final by defeating not only his idol Rafael Nadal but also Novak Djokovic, who was ranked first at the time. Alcaraz was on the court for a record-breaking 23 hours and 39 minutes. He beat Andy Murray's record of 21 hours, 51 minutes on the court at the 2012 US Open and Kevin Anderson's Grand Slam record of 23 hours, 20 minutes on the court at the 2018 Wimbledon throughout the tournament.