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Tennis’ future was on full display at the 2022 US Open.
But no young star shined brighter than Carlos Alcaraz — who took his first major step toward living up to his monumental hype.
On Sunday, Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud in four sets to claim the men’s championship — the first grand slam of the Spaniard’s burgeoning career.
With the victory, Alcaraz claimed the world No. 1 ranking — becoming the youngest man (19 years, 130 days) to achieve the feat since the ATP first released rankings in 1973. Lleyton Hewitt (20 years, 8 months, 26 days) was the previous record holder.
The 19-year-old also claimed the $2.6 million payout from a record $60 million prize pool, bringing his on-court season earnings to $7.4 million and his career earnings — between singles and doubles — to $9.1 million.
Tennis’s Big Three — Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal — were absent from the final stages of the US Open, as the former two did not enter the tournament, and the latter was eliminated in the Round of 16.
But New York’s signature tournament showed that the sport is in good hands after the departure of the legendary trio that had won 20 of the last 23 majors before Sunday.
- Ruud (23) ascended to No. 2 in the world and claimed $1.3M with his runner-up finish.
- Frances Tiafoe (24) used his American home-court advantage brilliantly, defeating Nadal and Andrey Rublev (24), before losing to Alcaraz in the semifinals and claiming $705,000.
- Rublev and Jannik Sinner (21) both bowed out in the quarterfinals to go home with $445,000 each.
Former world No. 1 and defending US Open champion Daniil Medvedev did not have his best showing, departing the tournament in the Round of 16. He took home $278,000 and dropped to No. 4.
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