Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to be ranked top in the world when he won the US Open on Sunday.
The Next Big Thing in men's tennis is a Spaniard named Alcaraz, who was appearing in his eighth major tournament and second at the US Open. At the 2005 French Open, he was the same age as Nadal, and at the US Open he was the youngest since 1990.
"Ole, Ole, Ole!" was sung to him. Alcaraz often motioned to the supportive spectators to get louder.
It was the first time in New York in 30 years that a man had gotten through three straight five-set matches to reach the title match. He spent a total of 23 hours, 40 minutes on the court in the tournament, the most by any man since the start of 2000.
Alcaraz lost the second set and was down 5-5 in the third. He erased each of the points from the set with soft-hand volleys. Alcaraz surged to the end of that set, aided by a series of missed shots by the tight-looking Ruud.
In the only Grand Slam final between two players seeking a first major championship and the top spot in the computerized rankings, one break in the fourth was all it took for Alcaraz to seal the victory.
This is the second time that a young man from Norway has failed in the Slam finals. He was second to Nadal at the French Open.
The AP contributed.
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