The 2022 U.S. Open final was historic in that it was a matchup that decided not only a first-ever Grand Slam title for either player but also the No. 1 ranking. Whoever prevailed between Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud would take over the top spot–also for the first time.
Ruud made a run to the French Open final this spring, so this wasn’t his maiden slam final like it was for Alcaraz. Still, on a surface much less favorable for him than clay, the Norwegian was a considerable underdog. Of course, just going that far was already an improbable feat; why not go a little farther? Ruud gave it his best, holding three set points to take a two sets to one lead, but eventually succumbed to Alcaraz 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 after exactly three hours.
For his efforts, Ruud climbed from seventh in the world to a career-best No. 2. It’s a mark with which he is understandably satisfied, but also one that leaves him motivated for more.
“At the moment he’s the best player in the world in my eyes,” the 23-year-old said of Alcaraz. “He deserves that spot. I’m happy that we played each other in the final and that we played for the title and the world No. 1 spot. I think it’s deserving that after great results, both of us having good results throughout the year, we are 1 and 2 in the rankings.
“I’m very proud of being No. 2. In a way it’s a good thing because I can still chase the last spot. There’s only one more spot to conquer.”
There are, however, a lot more accomplishments to be made–and ones the must be made if Ruud wants to surpass Alcaraz while also fending off the likes off Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic. The Oslo native has still never won an ATP title above the 250 level. He has nine of those trophies but is 0-2 in slam finals and 0-1 at Masters 1000s (also lost to Alcaraz in Miami earlier this season). He has never advanced to a 500 final.
At this rate, though, much bigger titles are on the way.
“I’m proud of the [the way I played in the final} and the two weeks,” Ruud reflected. “I gave it all. I left it all out on the court. Played some phenomenal tennis throughout the two weeks, probably my best tennis ever on this surface. So I’m very happy in the end. We’ll hopefully get another chance at a slam in the future.”
will Ruud win a major?
Well, he’s knocking on the door so……..
really like this guy….humble, hard-working, easy to like!
Me too, I really do like Rudd too. Hope he career continues to soar!
I neither like nor dislike Alcaraz. I expect he’ll win multiple slams, but I don’t expect him to go on a tear. He didn’t exactly stroll through a relatively depleted USO. But he’s young, ambitious and hard working. If he keeps it up he’ll likely make some improvements to his game. But if he starts believing the hype around him he could crash and burn.
Ruud clearly falls into the “great guy” category. Rafa likes him, clearly, but I don’t hear Rafa predicting that he’ll win slams… Maybe he’ll be sort of like David Ferrer, only not Spanish.
Haha Ramara! Another witty and pithy comment which made me laugh. ” David Ferrer, only not Spanish. ”
But Rafa and Toni were very complimentary about Ferrer weren’t they, saying that in another era he would have won a slam?
By extending that logic he should win one.
For some reason this made me remember another Rafa comment re Ferrer: He’s played so many Barcelona finals, he should have won one. Then, sounding a bit bemused: Only he always has to play me …
Well, Ruud is young enough that he should get an easier crack at RG at some point. Honestly, Ruud was quite lucky with draws at this year’s RG and USO.
Yeah Ruud reminds me of Ferrer a lot.
Who could never beat Nadal..them there was Almagro who could never beat Ferrer…
I believe Ferrer played to his maximum potential. I dont believe Ruud has or did in those 2 major finals.
I dont believe these 2 players are comparable, except that they are baseliners and their best surface is clay.
Ferrer is more mentally tough.
Ferrer played big under pressure.
Ferrer rarely lost matches to weaker opponents until the later stages of his career.
Ferrer had a stronger work ethic.
Ferrer was more mentally tough.
Ferrer at 23 would be eating this tour alive.
I would really like for Rudd to win a slam. He has made two finals this year so that’s a great record already! I mean you can only win a slam if u reach a final so there’s that! The good thing about this current tennis field, especially as Roger has now retired, is that you can never know who will win the whole thing as their performances can be so up and down……at least it will keep us intrigued if anything.
It’s not a matter of what you like, he has to deserve it, he has to take his chances. The USO final was setup perfectly for him to win. He was always going to get that opportunity to win it due to the circumstances coming into that match and he had 3 chances and he didnt take any of them.
You’ve got to be hungry, you have to make it happen.
You cant say, I hope someday when he finds himself in a final again that the stars all align or someone just gives it to him no matter how many chances he bombs. That’s charity and not how this sport works.
and not only that, he had a major advantage coming into that match and didn’t play like someone that had an advantage. He should’ve had a lot of energy and believed he had an advantage the whole time. Instead he turned it into the Alcaraz show and he was just happy to share the court with him.
It’s been the changing of the guard for the past few years but now we see concrete evidence of it.Its questionable if Rafa or Nole will be fit /motivated enough to win more Slams .One or two maybe,that could be it.
I can see Rafa competing in Europe, especially RG, for the foreseeable future but, with a wife and new baby at home, I can’t see him wanting to travel the world, he’s too family orientated.
Dont worry, Nadal’s ego more than compensates for his family orientation. Whether that changes with age or is used as a get out clause when things get tough, we will find out soon enough.
I’m not “worrying.” I was/am an Andy Murray fan, now more interested in the next, next gen.
I think you’re trolling, if you are looking at tennis player’s ego, I’d cast your eye away from Rafa.
As for motivation, Goran said recently that not being able to play this year would extend Novak’s career so that he would be playing for another 5- 6 years and that he intended to get to 30 slams!!
Another 5-6 years takes him to 41 which I have a hard time seeing. The last real year Fed played was in 2019 when he was 38. Given that Fed’s game is the most economical of the big 3 I don’t know why Novak would realistically be playing any older. Everyone gets serious injuries which are recurrent and can’t be fixed as they get older. I don’t see Novak or anyone for that matter playing after 38.
But Goran’s comments show how ambitious and motivated Novak is. I don’t doubt that he intends to get to 30.
And we all know just how accurate Goran’s comments always are, don’t we? 🙂 Anyway, what NoVax intends and what he does are often two very different things.
He might intend to get to 30, although Goran says all sorts of stuff so I usually take his comments with a grain of salt.
But let’s say Rafa gets 23 & retires, then Novak gets 24. By this stage he’ll be at least 36 years old, outright slam leader holding most of the other big records, and his rivals who have pushed him on are retired. Is he gonna be motivated enough to keep going into his late 30s by himself?
He’ll have increasing injury potential (and longer recovery time), family commitments, and the young challenges of Alacaraz & Sinner who I suspect will be more difficult to face than the Zverev-Tsitsipas-Medvedev gen. Like most people, I think he’ll finish on top of this slam race. But I don’t see him getting beyond 25-26 slams.
Novax has already missed several chances to win Slams (US Open, AO, US Open ) all his own doing so its questionable if he will be that motivated. We’ll see.