In the duel of the young stars, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz beat the Norwegian Casper Ruud and has two reasons to be happy. He wins the US Open title and is the youngest number one in the world rankings.
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By cpa / dpa
09/12/2022 – 07:20
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At the time of the great triumph, everything fell from Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish star tossed her racket aside and fell to the ground, stunned. Eventually he found some strength and ran to his box where he hugged friends, family and coaches. The joyful professional tennis player would have preferred to embrace the whole world.
The 19-year-old won his first Grand Slam title and became the youngest world number one in tennis history. Alcaraz prevailed in the final of the US Open in New York on Monday night against Norwegian Casper Ruud (23) 6: 4, 2: 6, 7: 6 (7: 1), 6: 3 and were awarded twice : In his first Grand Slam final he won the first and replaced the Russian Daniil Medvedev as the leader of the world rankings.
“It’s something I’ve always dreamed of being number one in the world and a champion in a Grand Slam,” said Alcaraz. “It’s hard for me to talk about it right now. I have so many emotions.”
One of the first to love was Nadal
There has never been a number one younger than Alcaraz among men. The exceptional talent is also the first teenager after compatriot Rafael Nadal in 2005 (French Open) to triumph in a Grand Slam tournament. The last time there was a younger winner at the US Open was 32 years ago by American Pete Sampras. One of the first to congratulate Nadal was via Twitter: “This is the culmination of your first great season, there are sure to be many more to come.”
Alcaraz received a US $ 2.6 million cash prize for the victory. The defeated Ruud, who could have been the first Norwegian to win the Grand Slam tournament and be number one in the world, can console himself with 1.3 million dollars. A minute of silence was observed before the first service at Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of around 24,000 spectators on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
“It will get on my nerves – and we will both feel it,” Ruud said before the match. Both young stars actually got off to a jittery start, with Alcaraz struggling in the second set from the tremendous strain of the previous six games with a total playing time of 20:19 hours. But the Spaniard reacted successfully.
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