US Open 2022: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Casper Ruud Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 US Open as Carlos Alcaraz takes on Casper Ruud in the final on Sunday, September 11th, 2022.

Will Carlos Alcaraz win an epic first major title and become the youngest ever no.1? Will Casper Ruud do the unthinkable and somehow pull off the upset for his first major, and in turn claiming the no. 1 ranking for himself? This will be an epic one, where we have the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world in the live rankings, each fighting in the biggest match of their lives and for the top spot in the rankings. Who will triumph and become the champion at the 2022 US Open?

Carlos Alcaraz took down Frances Tiafoe in 5 sets, 6-7 6-3 6-1 6-7 6-3. Winning each set that didn’t go to a tiebreaker relatively comfortably, but Tiafoe was just too strong in tiebreakers this tournament. As Alcaraz looks ahead to Casper Ruud, he’ll be wary of the challenge, but even after 3 back to back 5-setters, he’s still the clear favorite for the title. It’s a pretty good matchup for Alcaraz, but that’s really only because of the backhand to backhand exchanges, whereas while Alcaraz can flatten it out and be aggressive, Ruud hits a little too heavy and allows himself to be overpowered. Let’s see if the Spaniard can keep up the incredible run, and claim his first major title here at the 2022 US Open.

Casper Ruud took down Karen Khachanov in a relatively underwhelming match, needing 4 sets in 7-6 6-2 5-7 6-1. Ruud served really well, and hit his forehand as well as you’d expect. Coming up against Carlos Alcaraz, I like some aspects of this match for him. Because of how reliably he serves, I think he’ll put Alcaraz in a real bad spot when returning, and he’ll immediately be able to dictate from the baseline. While the backhand will hurt him, I don’t think it’ll be a massive issue as he’ll be able to play from the frontfoot for a decent bit of the match. Let’s see if the Norwegian has a say in this contest as he looks to claim the 2022 US Open title for himself.

Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud have met twice before, with Carlos Alcaraz leading the head to head 2-0. Their first meeting came on the clay in 2021, with neither player still ranked that highly yet, much less No.1 and No. 2, but it was still an upset win for Alcaraz. Their most recent meeting came this year in the final of the Miami Open, with Alcaraz taking it 7-5 6-4. As this is a quicker court, you’d really want to back Alcaraz, but Ruud has been improving as well, and I think if he serves well, he has a real chance as the Spaniard will be exhausted, but in the end, I suspect the 19 year old Carlos Alcaraz will make history to claim his first major crown and become the youngest ever ranked No. 1 at the 2022 US Open.