A page in the history of tennis has just been turned. In the middle of Sunday’s New York night, the three and a half hours of fierce fighting between the two young yellow balloon prodigies sounded like the beginning of a new era. Perhaps the most glorious since the heyday of the epic races between the “big three”: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. If we doubt that these will one day be matched, from the standpoint of dramaturgy and longevity, nothing says that the brand new winner of the US Open is not capable of such heights.
“Reminds me of all three!” ”
“Records are meant to be broken”, as they say. And by winning his first Grand Slam title at the age of 19, 4 months and 16 days, Carlos Alcaraz is part of the passing times of his glorious Spanish eldest son, the one who blew his 19 candles two days before his first title. at Roland – Garros in 2005. By sending him a message on Twitter in the wake of his victory, “Rafa” seems to have already dubbed his successor. “Congratulations on your first Grand Slam title and your # 1 spot which is the culmination of your first big season, I’m sure there will be many more! “He wrote the Majorcan to 22 majors regarding his young compatriot. In addition to this more than flattering passing of the baton, Carlos Alcaraz also praised another glory of the Parisian clay court.” Reminds me of all three! “Mats dared. Wilander, completely enchanted by the young Murcian’s panache since his emergence at the highest level. This obviously does not mean he will win twenty Grand Slams. But I don’t think any of the three stimulates the audience as much as he does. He is so spontaneous on a tennis court. I didn’t think you could be like this during matches and become a Grand Slam winner. His mood is fantastic for our sport “, concludes the former Swedish player in an interview with the newspaper L’Équipe. A future has already been promised. better than ever, Carlos Alcaraz has become, more than ever since Sunday evening, his glowing present. By collecting his first major trophy, he also offered himself the throne of world number 1 in place of the Russian Daniil Medvedev, eliminated in the round of 16 in New York. The boy from El Palmar thus precedes a certain Lleyton Hewitt who had won the first place in the world “only” at the age of 20 years and 8 months. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a child, I worked very, very hard to get there, it’s hard to find the words, I feel a lot of emotions”, the Spaniard reacted before lifting the silver cut in front of an Arthur-Ashe short. has already conquered.
One of the first number 1 in the world
Moments earlier, his trainers had creaked for nearly 3:30 on the hard court of Flushing Meadows center court. Powerless three months earlier in his final against Nadal on the ocher Roland-Garros, Casper Ruud, this time resisted the Iberian prodigy for a long time. The 23-year-old Norwegian can also have some regrets, especially after his two unconverted set points at 6-5 in his favor at the end of the third set, then after a 3:20 stalemate, tight and illuminated in abundance of sumptuous points, which “Carlitos” has surpassed “Ruuuuud”, as his Scandinavian fans call him. On a delayed basis, Alcaraz could have approached the tie-break with a shaking hand, he who had lost the four he had played during this tournament. But it is instead the Norwegian who gave in by making sudden and unforced errors. Enough to allow his opponent to easily pocket the decisive game 7 points to 1. The hardest part has been done. The Spaniard just had to finish the job. By beefing up his game and eliminating his too many failed drop shots, he broke early in the fourth set and finished the match without shaking (6-3) on his first match point.
This final completes a hair-raising tournament for the new king of world tennis. The road to the throne was not an easy one, he who had to fight 23 hours and 40 minutes to fight for his first Grand Slam title. He thus broke another record held until then by the South African Kevin Anderson, finalist at Wimbledon in 2018 after a 23 hours and 20 minutes journey, freed from the definitive unforced error of Casper Ruud, who concluded the match with the score of 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, Alcaraz couldn’t hold back tears during his victory speech. “I thought about my mother and my grandfather. To many other members of my family who have not been able to come “, he confided, after going up to the stands for outbursts of joy in tears with his father, one of his three brothers and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. A strong emotion that did not make him forget to slip a few affectionate words to the hitter of the day, who will be able to console himself by seeing his name appear in second place in the ATP ranking this Monday, September 12. His trajectory is however lightning fast and already places him in the stratosphere of tennis, at a time when Nadal (36), record holder of major titles (22), has to deal with recurring physical problems and has his mind set on impending fatherhood, and where the retirement of Roger Federer, who did not play in a tournament from Wimbledon-2021 has never felt so close.
Among the “Big 3”, only Novak Djokovic (35) has not yet said his last word and will undoubtedly be a candidate for future Grand Slam titles to catch up with his Majorcan rival who precedes him by two trophies. major. It remains to be seen how the designated successor of his three glorious elders will assume his new status should he cross their paths during the upcoming deadlines. There is no doubt that the other representatives of the new wave (Ruud, Jannick Sinner, Frances Tiafoe, Nick Kyrgios …) will do their best to block the way to Murcian, without forgetting the Medvedev, Zverev and Tsitsipas, not wanting to be the sacrificed generation.
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A page in the history of tennis has just been turned. In the middle of Sunday’s New York night, the three and a half hours of fierce fighting between the two young yellow balloon prodigies sounded like the beginning of a new era. Perhaps the most glorious since the heyday of the epic competitions between the “big three”: Federer, Nadal …
