Tag Archives: Open Era

Carlos Alcaraz Outlasts Frances Tiafoe at US Open to Reach His First-Ever Grand Slam Final

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Carlos Alcaraz continues his historic run at the US Open…

In another five-set match, the 19-year-old Spanish professional tennis player defeated Frances Tiafoe on Friday night, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3, to move through to the first Grand Slam final of his career.

Carlos Alcaraz With the win, Alcaraz has become only the second teenager in the entire Open Era to reach the men’s final at Flushing Meadows.

Alcaraz had previously registered back-to-back five-set victories in his last two rounds against Marin Cilic and Jannik Sinner—two of the five latest finishes in the tournament’s history.

YOUNGEST US OPEN MEN’S FINALISTS IN THE OPEN ERA:

  • 19 years, 1 month: Pete Sampras (1990 champion)
  • 19 years, 4 months: Carlos Alcaraz (2022, result TBD)
  • 20 years, 3 months: Bjorn Borg (1976 runner-up)
  • 20 years, 4 months: Novak Djokovic (2007 runner-up)
  • 20 years, 5 months: Andre Agassi (1990 runner-up)

Having reached the quarterfinals in his US Open debut last year, Alcaraz is also just the fourth man in the Open Era to reach the final in their second appearance at the US Open, joining Tom Okker in 1968, Jan Kodes in 1971 and Miloslav Mecir in 1986—all of whom finished runner-up. No man has ever reached the final in their debut appearance.

Alcaraz, whose win over Tiafoe was his ATP-leading 50th win of the year, is now guaranteed to rise to either No. 1 or No. 2 on the ATP rankings after the tournament.

If he defeats Casper Ruud in the final, he’ll be No. 1 and Ruud No. 2; if Ruud beats him in the final, the Norwegian will be No. 1 and the Spaniard No. 2.

Rafael Nadal Defeats Cameron Norrie to Claim Mexican Open Title

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Rafael Nadal continues his winning ways in the New Year…

The 35-year-old Spanish tennis star defeated Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to win the Mexican Open and extend his career-best start for a season to 15-0 as he won his 91st ATP title.

Rafael NadalNadal, who won his third title in 2022, including the Australian Open for his record 21st Grand Slam singles title, is three victories from tying Ivan Lendl‘s total of 94 for third place for most championships in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors leads with 109 and Roger Federer has 103.

“At the end of the day I’ve always said that this kind of records needs to be measured once your career is over,” Nadal said. “Today the most important thing is that I have won a prestigious tournament.”

The Mexican Open is an ATP 500-level tournament played on hard courts, and this year four of the top-five players in the world started in the draw: Daniil Medvedev (2), Alexander Zverev (3), Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) and Nadal (5).

Medvedev, who’ll rise to No. 1 in the rankings on Monday, lost to Nadal in the semifinals. Zverev was thrown out of the tournament for violently smashing his racket on the umpire’s chair moments after losing a doubles match, and Tsitsipas lost to Norrie in the other semifinal.

“[Acapulco] is a tournament that started with five of the top six players in the world,” Nadal said. “It was complicated, and I ended up taking the victory. Looking back, a few weeks ago this would have looked impossible. It’s amazing how things can change in such a short span, from not being able to practice and now to be where I am today.”

Nadal won for the fourth time in Acapulco (2005, 2013 and 2020), where he is a fan favorite.

He won his first title in Mexico when he was 18 and holds the record for the youngest winner in tournament history as well as the oldest at 35.

“It’s been a long career,” Nadal said. “The first time I came here, everything was new for me, and after all these years you start to appreciate more each victory than when you were an 18-year-old boy.”

Nadal said that his body is holding up well and that he is eager to play at Indian Wells, California, in a couple of weeks.

Norrie, who was on an eight-game winning streak, was trying to become the first British man to win the Mexican Open in its 29-year history.

“I played against him before, so I had an idea on how to play him, but I gave him a couple of easy points and he gave me nothing,” said Norrie. “It was little bit of lack of concentration, and I gave him the match.”

At the start of the match, Nadal had a break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and went on to win the first set in 51 minutes.

In the second set, Nadal had a break in the first game, but Norrie returned it and appeared to be back into the match, but the Spaniard added breaks in the fifth and seventh games to take home the trophy.