Sandro Veronesi, the great Italian writer and avid tennis player, argues that tennis is the most romantic of sports. And he is right. But to present the final of the US Open that tonight will “lay out” at the Flushing Meadows power plant the 19 year old Carlos Alcaraz and the 23 year old Casper Ruud – at 10pm, tv on Eurosport, whoever wins becomes, among other things, the number 1 in the world – you can ask for help, with a little imagination, even from Italo Calvino and his American Lessons, with the six concepts that the master proposed as values for the new millennium.
Lightness
Casper and Carlitos are not two giants, 77 kilos for one meter and 83 for the Norwegian, 74 for the same height for the Spaniard (these at least are the official ATP figures). On the court their ball is “heavy”, but lightness here is above all a mental concept. Both sons of art – even if Ruud senior (ex n.39 Atp) was clearly stronger than their father Alcaraz – they grew up having fun, without too much anxiety. Casper relied on the academy of Rafa Nadal, his idol, against whom he lost his first Grand Slam final in Paris a few months ago; Carlos to another No.1 Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been following him since he was 13. Both of them have begun to feel some tension in the last few months, when important results have arrived. On the pitch they fight with a lot of passion and without too much anguish, but tonight, as Ruud admitted, “we will play not only to win our first Grand Slam, but also to become number 1 in the world, so there will be some nerves and there we will both hear. ‘
Quickness
Here the suggestion is perfect, because both on the field are not only fast, but also rapid, two lightning bolts in the short journeys that tennis requires, and therefore capable of phenomenal recoveries that allow both to get on the ball with the best possible balance. Carlos today is perhaps the fastest of all, Sinner, Cilic and Tiafoe know something. Neither of them has the service of Opelka or Isner, but with the former they can be effective, almost surgical (with the latter for now Carlos is more vulnerable), and this will surely be one of the decisive terrains tonight.
Accuracy
Theirs is an accurate tennis, they look for lines and find them, they see the spaces well, they read the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents well. Ruud is less wrong, Carlitos allows himself a few more risks, but in New York it was often he who won in prolonged exchanges. “If I want to beat Carlos I will have to play very precisely with all shots,” Ruud analyzed. «In particular I will try to keep him back, to play with a good depth. If Carlitos puts his feet on the pitch, he can do anything with the ball, he also has a great touch with the dropshot, one of the best on the tour. He can move you with the right and the backhand and throw you off with that. ‘
Multiplicity
To win in tennis today it is not enough to be specialists, you need to know how to adapt – to opponents and surfaces – and to have more technical and tactical tools to succeed.
«When he was 11-12 years old – his manager Albert Molina told L’Equipe – there were three or four Spanish players who stood out, and Carlos was no better than the others, neither technically nor physically. But it was very rare to see an 11-year-old boy doing so many different things with the racket like him, and most of those things did her good. He was creative, he used the slice, he tried combinations with serve & volley, he looked for corners… ».
A talent that needed time, and not to feel obsessed with immediate results. “Let’s say that I had many options in my game and that, it’s true, sometimes I was wrong in my choice of shots.” Nobody rushed him. “As a child he did not win against the best – continues Molina – he did not win tournaments like Le Petits As. His talent needed patience, in order to discover the best way to be used”.
Ruud was born as a ‘terraiolo’ (8 of his 9 titles were obtained on red) but in recent years he has also been able to transform himself into a player with fast surfaces and this year he has come close to success on the illustrious cement of the Miami Masters 1000: losing in the final against Alcaraz. Although he emigrated to Spain early, Casper was born into a sports system, the Norwegian one, which encourages kids to try out many different sports, bans the rankings for under 11s and takes care of the expenses.
The ‘hard’ in perspective is probably the best surface of Carlitos (already last year, at 18, in New York he reached the quarterfinals) who, however, is also doing very well on clay, where he has won 4 of his five ATP tournaments. . However, two universal talents, probably with less chance on grass than on other surfaces.
Concreteness
It is a lesson that Calvino left unfinished, in a tennis sense it still fits very well to our two, young but already capable of achieving important results, and even of playing for the world record in a playoff night. Alcaraz, at 19 years and 4 months, can become the n.1 youngest ever, breaking the record from Lleyton Hewitt (20 years and 8 months in 2001) and the fourth Spaniard on the throne of the ranking after Moya, Ferrero and Nadal. Ruud would be the first Norwegian to do it, and the first to win a Slam in the men’s field (among the women ‘Molla’ Bjurnsted Mallory won the US championships 8 times between 1915 and 1926). Carlos spent over 20 hours on the pitch during the tournament, finishing three real marathons from the round of 16 onwards against Cilic, Sinner (5 hours and 15 minutes, the second longest match in tournament history) and Tiafoe very late. In short, his physical condition of him could be a decisive factor. “Last year I had only played three Grand Slams before the US Open and I had played only one match of five sets”, however, pointed out the Spaniard. “Now that I have played more (winning 8 out of 9, ed) I am more prepared mentally and physically”. From him also the account of the previous ones: he won in 2021 on the land of Marbella and this year in Miami, always in two sets. Ruud in New York in the fifth had to sweat it only against Tommy Paul in the third round, and he has the bittersweet experience of the final in Paris from him. “At Roland Garros Nadal gave me a big blow. Afterwards I said to myself: if I ever reach another one, I hope it is not against Rafa at Roland Garros, because it is an impossible feat for any player. This time at least I know a little about what awaits me, when I enter the field I will see the trophy on the back of the field and tons of celebrities in the stands. Even at Roland Garros there were royal families watching, and it was a bit of a new experience for me. I hope to be more ready ».
Visibility
This is what all the champions of the new generations are looking for, now that Federer is preparing for his final farewell and even Nadal and Djokovic, still very strong, are at the sunset of their incredible career. Alcaraz is already a star, his spectacular tennis, determination and fairness have transformed him into a global darling. Ruud respects the environment and is less popular with the general public, because he plays solid but less spectacular tennis. From number 1 in the world, however, things would change for him too.
New York, turn on, now it’s your turn.