When Carlos Alcaraz was marching through springtime with extraordinary majesty and a clearness of purpose, everyone intimately involved in the tennis community marveled at his self assurance, style and wide range of skills. He started peaking at Indian Wells, reaching the semifinals on the California hard courts before losing a hard fought battle with countryman Rafael Nadal amidst burdensome winds. Then he went to Miami and took the Masters 1000 title there over Casper Ruud. Shifting to the clay in Europe, Alcaraz suffered a brief setback with an early round loss to Korda in Monte Carlo, but then he went on a rampage. He was victorious at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona and then collected a second Masters 1000 crown in Madrid, upending Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Sascha Zverev to garner that prestigious Spanish title.
To be sure, Alcaraz came back down to earth for a while after his astounding run of success, falling in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros to Zverev, losing in the round of 16 at Wimbledon against Jannik Sinner, bowing in two clay court finals over the summer, and performing well below his zenith in his two hard court tournament appearances leading up to the U.S. Open.
But life changed irrevocably for the beguiling Spaniard in New York this past fortnight when he made history of the highest order. He realized the largest of dreams, fulfilled a considerable mission, and withstood challenge after challenge to start a triumphant journey at the majors that is going to last a very long time.
At 19, Alcaraz established himself as the youngest to secure a Grand Slam tournament title since Nadal at Roland Garros in 2005. He became the second youngest to win the U.S. Open after Pete Sampras in 1990. He replicated Stefan Edberg’s 1992 feat of taking three five set matches in a row en route to the Open final before succeeding in a four set final. And with his stirring run at Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz made himself the youngest ever to reside at No. 1 in the world in the ATP Rankings which began way back in 1973. Moreover, Alcaraz joined an elite cast of competitors who have taken the men’s U.S. Open title after being match point down during the course of the tournament, joining Boris Becker (1989), Sampras (1996), Andy Roddick (2003), Djokovic (2011), and Stan Wawrinka (2016) in that club.
All in all, Alcaraz could not have asked for more. He was stretched to his limits time and again at the Open but, from one crisis to another, he responded with an inner resolve, strength and perspicacity that was summoned with singular grace and courage.
Let’s start with his performance in the final and the way he met the moment. Confronting the No. 5 seed Ruud in this title round appointment, No. 3 seed Alcaraz could not ignore the historical consequences of the outcome. He knew that they were both trying to claim a first major crown while simultaneously playing for the No. 1 ranking. Never before across the last five decades had there been circumstances like this surrounding a big occasion with two players going for a first major title with the No. 1 ranking also on the line.
The storyline was immensely consequential this time around in New York. Winning a first major would be so much sweeter with the top ranking at stake as well, and losing would be infinitely more painful under those circumstances.
Competing under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium as rain fell steadily throughout the day and into the New York evening, Alcaraz gained the upper hand at the outset in front of a festive audience that was predominantly on his side. He achieved the early break for 2-1 and never lost his serve, taking that opening set 6-4. In the tenth game, he held at love. Winning the first set augured well for Alcaraz, who had been the victor in 19 consecutive matches at the majors after claiming the opening set.
But the contest started shifting away from the Spaniard beginning at 2-2 in the second set. Ruud—an outstanding percentage player with one of the heaviest forehands in the game and an underrated first serve— saved a break point with an unstoppable first delivery, holding on for 3-2. Alcaraz moved to 30-0 in the following game but lost his serve for the first time in the match as his trademark drop shot let him down a couple of times. Ruud erased a break point in the seventh game with a 127 MPH service winner, and then broke a sagging Alcaraz again to seal the set 6-2 on a run of four consecutive games.
Clearly, Ruud was finding his range and sensing that Alcaraz was mentally and physically drained after enduring so many daunting moments over the previous week.
And yet, Alcaraz moved in front 2-0 in the third and even had a break point for 3-0. Once more, Ruud produced an excellent first serve that set up a forehand winner. He held on sedulously and soon broke back for 2-2. The rest of the set was mightily fought out. At 5-6, Alcaraz was battling furiously to hold on and reach a tie-break while Ruud was going all out to break serve and put Alcaraz in a bind. That sparkling twelfth game featured five deuces and a cluster of spellbinding exchanges. Twice Alcaraz was down set point.
On the first, he came to the net off a short Ruud return but the Norwegian sent a backhand pass down the line, stretching Alcaraz out. Yet the Spaniard got his racket around the outside of the ball beautifully and angled a forehand drop volley crosscourt for a winner. The second time he was facing a set point, Alcaraz played serve-and-volley as he had done not infrequently and very successfully all match long. The brave Spaniard got well inside the service line for the forehand first volley, which he angled crosscourt. Ruud had an opening to lob over Alcaraz but the Spaniard retreated swiftly and put away the smash.
In the ensuing tie-break, Ruud opened with an ace at 125 MPH down the T, but Alcaraz proceeded to sweep seven points in a row from there with some of his finest higher trajectory looped returns of the match and some strategic serving. Alcaraz’s deep determination and enormous composure had carried him to a two sets to one lead.
Following up on his late third set heroics, a revitalized Alcaraz was unstoppable in the fourth. In five service games, he took 20 of 28 points. With Ruud serving at 2-3, the Spaniard got the one break he needed, making one of his favorite forehand topspin lobs to force Ruud into an overhead error at 30-30 before the Norwegian erred off the backhand on break point. Down 0-30 in the seventh game, Alcaraz collected four points in a row, including two aces. Serving for the match at 5-4, Alcaraz surged to 30-0 but missed an easy overhead. But he then unleashed his second ace of the game and soon came through on his second match point with a scorching service winner out wide to the backhand.
Alcaraz prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 in three hours and twenty minutes. He had shown off all of his versatility during those 200 minutes, weathering a mid-match emotional decline, finding renewed energy and inspiration down the stretch. Not to be ignored, Alcaraz released 14 aces in the four set contest, and half of them were in the last set. He had exploited Ruud’s deep court positioning on the returns at other stages of the match by following his serve in, but in the fourth set Alcaraz was more committed to serving bigger and earning more free points. I wish he would do that more often going forward in his career. His first serve could become a much bigger weapon and, even if his percentage declines slightly, he can back his second serve up as well as anyone in the game.
What made Alcaraz’s triumph in the final all the more remarkable was what preceded it. He took on the inimitably charismatic Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals. Tiafoe had toppled Nadal in the round of 16 and then removed the No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev for the second straight year in New York. The Black American was playing the best tennis of his career, winning a pulsating first set from Alcaraz. It was settled in a tie-break. Alcaraz rallied from 3-6 to 6-6, only to pull a backhand wide and serve his second double fault of the sequence. Tiafoe took that tie-break 8-6.
But the 24-year-old American started fading physically and emotionally midway through the second set, and naturally the American fans lowered their noise and expectations. Alcaraz took utter control to win the second and third sets. He broke for 2-0 in the fourth and had a couple of game points in the third game. Tiafoe broke back before Alcaraz went ahead 3-1 on another break. But somehow Tiafoe gathered strength to get back on serve again.
Nonetheless, Alcaraz had a match point with Tiafoe serving at 4-5 in the fourth. The American’s shot clipped the net cord and gave Alcaraz options. He chose the wrong one. Rather than ripping his backhand down the line with an opening, he went for the drop shot crosscourt off his backhand. Tiafoe answered with a drop shot winner of his own.
They travelled to a tie-break. Ahead 5-4, Alcaraz had a chance for a forehand winner but missed. The same thing happened when he served at 5-6. Improbably, he was taken into a fifth set by a resurgent Alcaraz. The unshakable Alcaraz simply plodded on with his usual discipline and resolution. Although Tiafoe rallied from 0-2 to 2-2, his first serve was misfiring flagrantly. He put only 10 of 30 in play across that fifth set and was broken thrice. Alcaraz rolled on to win 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in four hours and nineteen minutes.
And yet, Alcaraz’s greatest escape was in a five hour, 15 minute quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner, the Italian warrior who had beaten the Spaniard on the lawns of Wimbledon and on clay over the summer. Alcaraz won the first set and had five set points in the second set of this captivating clash under the lights. On the fourth of those opportunities Alcaraz had a wide open court for a forehand passing shot but sent his shot into the net. Later Alcaraz served for the third set but failed to finish.
Astoundingly, Alcaraz was down two sets to one when he should have at the very least been ahead by that same margin. A spectacularly performing Sinner served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set and had a match point there, but Alcaraz measured his backhand return impeccably and coaxed an error from the Italian. Alcaraz opportunistically won that set but trailed again in the fifth as Sinner led 3-2, 40-15. In the end, the Spaniard somehow swept four games in a row and survived 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 in one of the best matches ever contested at the U.S. Open. It took on even loftier prominence when Alcaraz exploited his comeback and went on to win the tournament.
And yet, Alcaraz might not have been around for that appointment if he had not held back 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in another late night battle. Cilic broke Alcaraz in the first game of the fifth set but the Spaniard retaliated in the second game with a magnificent passing shot and eventually was victorious 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours and 54 minutes.
And so Alcaraz had spent about 24 hours on court across seven matches. His last four matches consumed over 16 hours of hard competition. Alcaraz was never at his very best but he played astonishing tennis. This will be surely be his first of many major titles. He already is among the most complete players in his profession, explosive from the baseline but excellent on defense as well, capable of coming forward forcefully and volleying with authority, able to deploy the drop shot skillfully. Now he needs to place greater emphasis on the serve. Too often he has relied on variety with the kick serve and cagey use of the body serve. I hope he will start serving bigger more regularly, the way he did in the fourth set of the U.S. Open final. Alcaraz has the propensity to get through his service games more comfortably by going after the first delivery and producing more aces and service winners. At the Open, he worked exceedingly hard at times to hold and got broken too often—24 times across seven matches. With a new philosophy of relying more on bigger serves, he could alter the course of his career significantly and make himself even more invulnerable.
The way I look at it, Alcaraz will surely win at least 15 majors in his career, but very likely more. I have felt for a while that he will set himself apart from the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Zverev, and a slumping Stefanos Tsitsipas. It may well be that a gripping rivalry develops between Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz, but the feeling grows that the Spaniard will eventually distance himself from each and all of his rivals.
Over the next two to three years, however, there will surely be some monumental skirmishes featuring Alcaraz against Djokovic, who was sorely missed in New York and too easily forgotten. They played one of the finest matches of 2022 at Madrid back in May with the Spaniard victorious in a third set tie-break. It would be a joy to to watch them play a good many matches in 2023 and 2024 as Alcaraz grows accustomed to the sport’s highest level and the prideful Djokovic rounds out one of the great careers in tennis history. There might even be a few classic Nadal-Alcaraz duels if the older Spaniard can stay healthy next year.
Over the course of the late spring and summer, Alcaraz clearly endured some growing pains, became a target for lesser players to confront and briefly lost some of his exuberance on the court. But he put aside his disappointments and performed prodigiously in New York despite all of the severe tests and some missed opportunities.
Now he stands on the threshold of sprawling importance as the game’s greatest player, ready to start winning majors in clusters, excited about defending his reputation, eager to put his diversified game on full display at the biggest arenas in front of fans who have flocked to his matches and warmed to his personality. Carlos Alcaraz has just begun to tap into his potential, and across the next decade and beyond he will be a figure of growing stature whom the public will celebrate for his multitude of virtues, a deep reverence for the game and an unmistakable sense of fair play.
