following sideways, Alcaraz and Ruud did their part and prevented the already eliminated Rafael Nadal from taking the throne vacated by Daniil Medvedev with his early elimination in New York.
Nadal, world number three, needed a defeat from both Alcaraz (4th) and Ruud (7th) but his Spanish compatriot beat the American Frances Tiafoe and the Norwegian beat the Russian Karen Khachanov.
I am in a Grand Slam final for the first time, I can see number one but at the same time it is very far
Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz, who may be the youngest number one in history at 19, starred against Tiafoe in another thrilling victory until midnight in New York 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-1, 6- 7 (5/7) and 6-3. “It’s incredible to fight for great things. I’m in a Grand Slam final for the first time, I can see number one but at the same time it’s very far away,” he said at the end of the match.
For now He is already the youngest US Open finalist in the last 32 years.since Pete Sampras raised the trophy in 1990, also at the age of 19.
Alcaraz, who gave up the first set and a match point in the fourth, avenged Tiafoe’s defeat of his idol Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.
With his talent, fight and fast-paced game, the young man from El Palmar, a Spanish town of 20 thousand inhabitants, won the support of the largest track in the world (23,800 fans) until Tiafoe starred in a creditable but finally sterile final comeback.
“I gave it my all, Carlos was too good tonight,” Tiafoe said with tears in his eyes. “I have given everything I have in the last two weeks. I came here wanting to win the US Open and I feel like I let them down. This really hurts,” said the first American semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows since 2006.
Former first lady Michelle Obama, in addition to many other personalities, attended Flushing Meadows to support Tiafoe, who gave his face until the end on the Arthur Ashe court, the previous black tennis player to play a semifinal in New York in 1972.
Ruud before his second chance
In the first semi-final, Ruud had added pressure to Alcaraz by beating Khachanov 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 5-7 and 6-2 and be one step away from being the ATP leader with the greatest jump in history, from his current number 7 in the ranking.
The 23-year-old Norwegian earned the ticket to his second major final after being overwhelmed at the last Roland Garros by Rafael Nadal in three sets.
“It is not easy but here I am, a couple of months later, with a feeling that cannot be described in words,” he congratulated himself.
Ruud, a student for years at Nadal’s academy in Manacor (Majorca, Spain), has this year surpassed his image as a specialist on clay, a surface on which he won his nine ATP titles, three this year.
On Friday, on the hard court in New York, Ruud overcame initial nerves to knock down the dangerous Khachanov, number 31 in the ATP rankings, who was also contesting his first Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 26.