Carlos Alcaraz has been touted for a few years as the next big thing; now the 19 year old from Spain can prove it. Casper Ruud from Norway is aiming to be the first ever Norwegian to win a Grand Slam title.

There is another thing on the line here, the number one ranking in the world, the stakes couldn’t be higher in the final match of this years US Open. If Alcaraz wins he will become the youngest ever man to reach the top spot.

Why Ruud will win

Casper lost the Roland Garros final to Rafa in straights and admitted he was overwhelmed, you have to think he’s learnt from that and I’d suggest he will play a lot more freely here, which I think he’ll have to. If he can up the aggression and take it to Alcaraz, not letting the teenager boss him around then he can win. He just has to get the offense/defense mix right.

Why Alcaraz will win

He has played some scintillating tennis against Tiafoe, Cilic and especially the match against Sinner, which was the best match in a Grand Slam for a very long time. If he can keep that level in this final there will be nothing Ruud can do, he has uncanny court craft for a teenager, he rarely plays the wrong shot at the wrong time and has the perfect blend of power and guile.

Prediction 

Carlos has won their only two matches without dropping a set, but that’s hard to say how much that means here considering the amount of time Alcaraz has spent on court, he’s played three five setters in a row, the last two totaling over 10 hours. That ungodly court time may eventually catch up with him if this match drags on and Ruud is the type of roadrunner that could prolong this match if he senses Alcaraz is tiring, but I think the Spanish kid has one more long match in him, I’m tipping him in 4 sets to win his first Grand Slam and become number one in the world.