Armed with a powerful forehand and an uncanny ability to extend points and outlast opponents, Carlos Alcaraz arrived at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy Sunday night in Queens to face down Casper Ruud. Three hours and 20 minutes later, Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish wunderkind, walked away with his first Grand Slam singles title, and the top spot in the ATP world rankings. Alcaraz is the youngest man ever to be ranked the world No. 1 and the youngest to win a Grand Slam event since Rafael Nadel in 2005. In front of an audience of 24,000 (many of whom chanted: “Olé, olé, olé, Carlos!”), Alcaraz beat Norway’s Ruud, 23, also hungry for his first major title, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. “He’s a hell of a player,” said Frances Tiafoe, a fellow rising star who lost to Alcaraz in a nail-biting five-set semi-final match on Saturday. “He’s going to be a problem for a very long time.”
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