Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud set up battle for No. 1 in U.S. Open final

9/9/2022 7:51:26 PM EST

The world's No. 1 ranking will be on the line when Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud square off in the U.S. Open men's singles final.

Both players won their semifinal matches in four sets on Friday in New York to set up the Sunday showdown.

Alcaraz, the third-seeded Spaniard, got past 22nd-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in a dramatic, primetime battle. Earlier, Ruud, the fifth seed from Norway, reached his second Grand Slam final of the year by dispatching 27th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Alcaraz, 19, is through to his first career Grand Slam final. Should he win on Sunday, he would become the youngest player ever to be ranked No. 1 in the world. The mark is currently held by Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who rose to the top at age 20 in 2001.

Ruud, 23, had never been in a major final before losing to Rafael Nadal for the French Open title in June.

"It's amazing to be able to fight for big things," Alcaraz said. "First time in a final of a Grand Slam. I can see the No. 1 in the world, but at the same time, it's so far away. I have one more to go against a player who plays unbelievably. ...

"I'm going to give everything that I have. I will have to handle the nerves of being in the final of a Grand Slam but ... I'm going to enjoy the moment and let's see what happens."

To reach the final, Alcaraz had to work five sets in each of his past three matches. He held off 15th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia in the fourth round, 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals and now Tiafoe in the semifinals.

Tiafoe, 24, needed five set points to wrap up the opening set -- one on Alcaraz's serve at 6-5 and four more in the tiebreaker.

After the score was 2-2 in the second set, Alcaraz won eight of the next nine games to take control.

Alcaraz had a match point at 4-5 in the fourth set, but Tiafoe rallied and soon won the tiebreaker. The Maryland native improved to 8-0 in tiebreakers at this year's U.S. Open, an all-time single-year record for the event.

A set later, Alcaraz finally sealed the match on his fourth total match point.

Ruud had a 52-43 edge in winners against Khacvhanov and won 82.6 percent of his first-serve points (57 of 69) while becoming the first Norwegian to reach the U.S. Open final.

"This match today was another great match from my side," Ruud said in his on-court interview. "I think we were both a bit nervous at the beginning, a few breaks back and forth. But you have to take into account that this match is probably the biggest in both of our careers. Of course there will also be some nerves but I was fortunate to win that first set, which calmed my nerves a little bit.

"I played phenomenal in the second and Karen stepped up in the third. It was back and forth like every five-setter is, but I am just so happy. After Roland Garros I was extremely happy but of course humble enough to think that could be my only final at a Grand Slam in my career. It doesn't come easy, but here I am back again a couple of months later."

After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, the fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium serenaded him with chants of "Ruuuuuuuuuud!"

Ruud followed that set with an easy win in the second set to take a commanding lead. No. 27 seed Khachanov fought back to take the third set but the Russian didn't have enough in the tank to overcome Ruud despite possessing a 16-10 edge in aces.

The 26-year-old Khachanov, who was playing his first Grand Slam final, committed 39 unforced errors. Ruud made 34.

--Field Level Media

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