Spain's Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud of Norway to grab his first Grand Slam singles title at the age of 19. 1 ranking, the youngest man to ever do that. It ended what many are calling one of the great U.S. Opens, with an emotional goodbye to Serena Williams and strong indications of change in both men's and women's tennis. NPR's Tom Goldman joins me now.Īll right. So let's start with the teenager, Carlos Alcaraz, who's being called a generational player. TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: We will have to see how he does over the next decade, obviously, and whether he stays healthy. And like his countrymen and idol, 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal, Alcaraz shows a relentlessness that we saw in the three straight five-set marathons he won leading up to yesterday's final.īut he looks so good now and complete - his speed and court coverage, his powerful groundstroke, strong serve and volley game, deft touch.

And he didn't exactly come out of nowhere. I mean, he's been building to this even though he's very, very young. A good indication came in May, when, in three straight matches at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz beat Nadal. And we found out exactly what over the last two weeks in New York. MARTINEZ: And it also seems like we have a player on the women's side separating from the pack. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland won the women's final at the Open - her third Grand Slam singles title.

She's planted herself at the top with some really good up-and-coming players, including 18-year-old American Coco Gauff, who will keep pushing her. Let's pull back a bit and talk about this just-finished U.S. Will this always be remembered as Serena Williams' tournament? Of course, the first week, there was really only one player, woman or man, that anyone was talking about. GOLDMAN: It will, at least the first week. And while it may have been unfair to ignore everyone else, she earned it, right? So much was said about her impact on tennis, on culture. And I thought it was great - the continuity from Week 1 to Week 2. There was almost this torch passing because after Serena Williams lost on the first Friday, American men's player Frances Tiafoe started to emerge. He would, of course, become a huge story in Week 2. And Serena Williams was kind of the connective tissue. Tiafoe, who's Black, talked about as a kid, he watched Serena and her sister Venus and was inspired by them.

The Williams didn't just get girls excited about the game.

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