The future of tennis arrived at 7:38 p.m. Sunday on the racket of Carlos Alcaraz, who clinched the U.S. Open men’s singles championship, announcing the start of a new era in the game.
Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation, beat Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3, to win his first Grand Slam singles title, but probably not his last. Far, far from it. A blasted serve that came off his racket like a rocket clinched it. The Carlos Alcaraz era is here.
On Sunday, he reached the sport’s pinnacle in grand fashion on its biggest stage, packing nearly 24,000 fans onto his bandwagon as he claimed not only the men’s singles championship and $2.