Carlos Alcaraz, the new king of the world

Carlos Alcaraz had not won a tie break in the entire tournament. He had lost all four he had contested until the final, two against Sinner and two against Tiafoe. Four had been taken by Casper Ruud. We were in the third set. The Murcian was playing badly. He was less. The Norwegian, orderly and patient, went further. It was a day to put on work overalls, but Alcaraz plays without a chain. He doesn’t understand temporizing. He doesn’t pass the ball. He busts it. And he didn’t put it in.

Then, when everything was black, the new world number 1, the tennis player who has broken all the records of precocity, did again what almost nobody is capable of doing: play well when everything was bad. He saved two set points that would have made the match very expensive for Ruud. He was brave on both points, tremendously critical. He went to the net and played two very bloody volleys. And he put both. And he forced the tie break, the one he always lost. Until yesterday. He won it when he had to win it. 7-1, with a recital of blows only within the reach of a chosen one like him. The Nordic melted in a way that was as unexpected as it was inexplicable. Alcaraz grew and Ruud fell. There, in that tiebreaker of the third sleeve conquered by the Murcian, the final was decided.

The party started with luxury. The thing was on wheels. Alcaraz started as a shot and in the third game he already broke Ruud’s serve. The Murcian had it clear. Serve and network. A lot of climbing to the tape and good volleys. All that, packed with good rights and some very effective drop shots. He was a rock on his serve and used to give his rival trouble on return. The first set went to the player from El Palmar because he was very similar to the player who has dazzled during these two weeks in New York. 6-4 for Alcaraz.

Nobody expected –possibly not even Ruud himself– a slump like the one Alcaraz suffered in the second round. He rushed the pupil of Juan Carlos Ferrero, wanting to shorten the points too much and giving up the long exchanges that he is so good at. That anxiety of the Murcian contrasted with the serenity of the Norwegian. Ruud grew and grew, showing a lot of determination and perfectly executing his game plan. He suddenly went out of El Palmar and the set went badly. 6-2 for Ruud.

In the third set, the hostilities were triggered with incredible points by the two tennis players until reaching the tie break, in which the Murcian prevailed with authority. This gave him a lot of confidence for the fourth set and sank his rival, who could barely stand up in the last set of the match. Alcaraz went from 7-6 in the third to a comfortable 6-3 in the fourth. The key was in that tie break that is already tennis history.

With his conquest in New York, Alcaraz proclaims himself the youngest to win a Grand Slam since Rafa Nadal in 2005, and the earliest in history to be considered the best tennis player in the world. At 19 years and 129 days, only six younger players have succeeded on a big stage. From Michael Chang, through Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Björn Borg and Rafael Nadal, to Sampras.