19-year-old Spanish Tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz has become the talk of the tennis world following his impressive run of form in 2022 that reached peak with his historic win in the US Open final against Casper Ruud. Alcaraz claimed his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York after prevailing 4-6, 6-2, 6-7, and 3-6 to subsequently rise to the top of the world rankings as well.

Alcaraz had consolidated his tag of being ‘the next big thing’ in Tennis after he defeated both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in consecutive matches during the Madrid Open. Those victories had also made him a likely contender for the French Open but he unfortunately suffered a quarter-final exit at the hands of Alexander Zverev.

At the US Open in Flushing Meadows, however, talks surrounding him and his chances to win had subsided. Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev were seen as the overwhelming favourites to win the crown in New Tork but both ended up incurring surprising last 16 exits.

With their eliminations, the draw became more open and Alcaraz made the most out of it by playing three consecutive five-setters during the second wee of the US Open on his way to winning the trophy.
However, following the victory, Alcaraz opined that he was fortunate that Djokovic, who was denied entry to the US owing to vaccination protocols, did not participate in the final Grand Slam of the season.

“Look, I don’t want to take credit away from myself,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “But it’s true that Rafa, Djokovic, Federer, they were in a period when they were all playing. I had the luck or whatever you want to call it that Djokovic could not play. Everybody has their reasons, but that is the reality.

“He could not play much for a while, and Rafa kept playing but not all year, either. But like I said, I don’t want to take credit away from myself. I have been playing all season, playing incredible matches and incredible tournaments, and I’ve worked really hard so that things like this could happen,” he said.
Both Nadal and Djokovic took to Twitter to congratulate the 19-year-old for his historic success!