Carlos Alcaraz vs Casper Ruud US Open 2022 final: Key battle points

The chaotic nature of the US Open men’s draw, which was held in the second week, was ignored amid all the discussion surrounding the women’s singles draw. The men’s draw contained eight quarterfinalists, all of whom were vying for their first Grand Slam championship after Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev lost in the round of 16, and four of whom had never advanced that far in the US Open.

Also read: US Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz to chase ‘childhood dream’ in final

In the end, it came down to two up-and-comers, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud, who had never competed in a tournament with such high stakes. The champion of the final Slam in 2022 will also be ranked number one in the world, thus the two will not simply be battling for their respective first Slams in New York.

With two victories over the Norwegian, Alcaraz has the advantage in their head-to-head competition. Their most recent encounter was in the Miami Open final earlier this year, where Ruud lost to the 19-year-old in straight sets after giving up a 4-1 lead in the first set. Ruud, who has experience playing in a Grand Slam final after facing the iconic Rafael Nadal in the French Open final earlier in June, would therefore be thinking about seeking revenge.

Also read: US Open 2022: Casper Ruud vs Carlos Alcaraz final to script history regardless of result

Ruud has up his serve game

“Unfortunately I was too low on the first-serve percentage,” Ruud had claimed after his 5-7 4-6 loss to Alcaraz in the Miami Open final. “That’s dangerous against Alcaraz, because he returns well both first and second serves. But on the second serves, he stays very, very aggressive and makes a lot of good returns.”

With his service games at the US Open, Ruud has excelled. He is now winning 88 percent of his service games and 78% of his first serves, which puts him second only to Nick Kyrgios (90%) among the eight men’s singles quarterfinalists at the US Open. Alcaraz has demonstrated hints of difficulty winning points on opponents’ first serves, claiming only 35% of victories, but this is more than Ruud’s (31%).

Also read: US Open 2022 final: Casper Ruud vs Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head, other stats

Attacks and defenses

Ruud’s superb defense statistics have contributed to his journey to the final. Ruud tops the list in the US Open’s Steal Score metric, which measures how frequently a player has won the point when defending, with a win rate of 41% over Alcaraz’s 39%. The Spaniard outperformed Ruud’s tournament average in his past two games, recording percentages of 41% in the quarterfinal and 44% in the semifinal.

The Norwegian merely can’t rely on defense and hope Alcaraz makes a mistake in the final against a player with tremendous court coverage, or in Ruud’s words, a player who “can bring up unbelievable points and rallies.”

Also read: US Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud? The race for World No. 1

He has to attack harder and exert more control over the match from the baseline, where he has won 56% of rallies so far at the US Open.

Alcaraz aggressively served and volleyed in their prior encounter, which is the ideal defence against a deep returner. He also shortened rallies and used his forehand to drive Ruud back before handing out drop shots in the most subtle way. Ruud’s weakness was that he didn’t increase his offence when it was necessary against an adept attacker like Alcaraz, although the Spaniard was able to play solid defence when called upon.