Miami Open 2022, final: 3 things that stood out in Carlos Alcaraz's win against Casper Ruud
14th seed Carlos Alcaraz beat sixth seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 in the Miami Open final on Sunday to win his maiden Masters 1000 title.
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The match lasted an hour and 50 minutes and the Spaniard emerged as the deserving winner.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in Sunday's final:
#1 Casper Ruud made a great start and looked the better player initially
Ruud got off to a flying start and won the first three games of the match within 12 minutes. He broke Alcaraz in the second game of the first set and held his serve in his first three service games to race to a 4-1 lead.
Carlos Alcaraz was clearly feeling the nerves early on and committed five unforced errors in the first two games of the first set. Ruud, on the other hand, served well initially and dictated terms with his powerful forehand.
The Norwegian hit his shots deep to push Alcaraz behind the baseline and was thus able to use his strong forehand from an advanced court position. The strategy worked well and Carlos Alcaraz struggled to make his presence felt.
#2 Carlos Alcaraz worked his way into the match as Ruud struggled to get his backhand going
However, Ruud’s dominance ended soon after, as Alcaraz grew into the first set and got his first break in the seventh game. The Spaniard started serving to the Norwegian’s backhand side more often, especially on the ad court. Ruud struggled to make consistent returns with his backhand and Alcaraz started winning his service games with ease.
Both players also came to the net often to try to shorten the points. Carlos Alcaraz kept playing his customary drop shots, but Ruud was able to chase down most of them. As a result, the Spaniard managed only two drop shot winners in the entire match.
However, Ruud’s tendency to press with his forehand backfired as the Norwegian started committing unforced errors. Alcaraz also attacked more, executing some thunderous running crosscourt forehands.
The Spaniard managed to break Ruud again in the 11th game and then served out the first set. Owing to the aggressive approach of both players, the rallies in the first set were on the shorter side; only seven points involved nine or more shots.
#3 Carlos Alcaraz pulled away in the 2nd set to seal the win
Carlos Alcaraz started the second set in grand fashion and broke Ruud in two consecutive games to build a 3-0 lead. The Norwegian was erratic with his forehand in the initial part of the set. Ruud, however, made a brief comeback to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
Still, Alcaraz continued with the strategy of serving to the Norwegian’s backhand and managed to hold for the remainder of the match. Ruud’s first-serve percentage dropped as the match progressed, and the Norwegian ended with a first-serve percentage of 59% against Alcaraz’s 71%.
Moreover, the Norwegian could only win 60% of his first-serve points. The aggressive Alcaraz hit 30 winners in the match against Ruud’s 22 and closed out the match with a serve-and-volley.
The Spaniard broke Novak Djokovic’s record by becoming the youngest male champion in Miami.