US Open takeaways: Amazing Carlos Alcaraz, 'young GOAT' Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud, Ons Jabeur shine

The 2022 US Open is in the books. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek were crowned singles champions, but what were the top takeaways from the tournament?

Why not start with the obvious: Carlos Alcaraz is very special. His power is astounding. As is his court coverage. As is his will to win and his competitive drive, even at ridiculous hours of the morning. If he continues on the same soaring upward trajectory he has been on for the past year then there will be many more Grand Slam titles in his future.

Dubbed the 'young GOAT' by Alize Cornet, Iga Swiatek clocked up a seventh title of the year, a second Grand Slam of the season, another straight-sets victory in a final (that’s now 10 in a row), and became only the third woman in the last 15 years to win multiple majors on different surfaces in the same season, joining Serena Williams and Justine Henin. Not bad for someone who didn’t like the balls much.

Swiatek didn’t sweep all aside as she has done in her two French Open victories – finishing the tournament with 137 winners vs 197 unforced errors, including a 19-30 count in the final - but she is so hard to beat. “She knows exactly what to do,” said Ons Jabeur after the final. Swiatek’s movement, returning and defence is so exceptional that she is able to stay in more points and continue to put pressure on her opponents. Any doubts over whether she can dominate on hard courts have been definitively dispelled.

With 99 wins between them this season and the most victories on tour over the last two years, Swiatek and Jabeur are the clear and deserved No. 1 and No. 2 in the world right now. While others below strive for more consistency, the top two have both made two Grand Slam finals in 2022 and had there been points on offer at Wimbledon then there would have been an even bigger gap between Jabeur and those below.

This has been a huge season for Jabeur, winning her first WTA 1000 title, making the Wimbledon and US Open finals. She’s shown a strong ability to bounce back from disappointment – winning in Madrid after losing the Charleston final, going on an 11-match grass winning streak after her French Open first-round loss, and making the US Open after early exits in Toronto and Cincinnati – and her variety is a joy to watch. She should challenge for more big titles in 2023.

“Tennis is a sport of position a lot of times. If not, you need to be very, very quick and very young. I am not in that moment anymore.” Where does Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round loss at the US Open leave him? Nadal was critical of his performance afterwards and suggested he might take a break as he needs to “fix things”. The 22-time Grand Slam champion never looked at his very best in New York, perhaps due to lack of match practice, and maybe some time away is what’s now needed.

OK, who had Casper Ruud making two Grand Slam finals in 2022? It doesn’t seem that long ago that he was sweeping up ATP 250 clay titles and getting called out for it by Kyrgios. But Ruud is having himself a year in 2022. Final of the French Open and Miami Open, semis in Rome and Montreal, three clay titles, and a run to the final of the US Open. It is a little surprising seeing him as world No. 2 considering he hasn’t won a title above ATP 250 level, but he is taking things up a notch and has firmly established himself as a quality all-court player over the last year.

‘Is this the start of a new era of men’s tennis’ has become a bit of a worn out question over the last few years, so despite a quarter-final line-up without Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray, and featuring eight players who hadn’t won a Grand Slam title (seven who still haven’t), it’s still TBC on Tiafoe’s suggestion that there could now be a Big 12 instead of a Big Three. We may be seeing the changing of the guard, but there’s still every chance Nadal and Djokovic share the first three majors of 2023. There is excellent competition, though, and the US Open seemed to suggest that when Nadal and Djokovic do depart there will be a large group challenging for Grand Slam titles on a regular basis.

The post-match racquet smashes said it all. This was a huge opportunity missed for Nick Kyrgios, who was the favourite to win the US Open after Rafael Nadal’s loss to Frances Tiafoe. Hopefully his run to the Wimbledon final and impressive summer hard-court showings add extra motivation to go again in 2023, starting with the Australian Open.

Great to see Frances Tiafoe finally make his breakthrough at his home Slam. The 24-year-old, who has been inching his way towards the top for several years, is such a fun player to watch and was a huge hit with the fans in New York. He has the game to stick around at the top and make more deep runs.

In the words of former British No. 1 Laura Robson: “Sign me up for the next 10 years of Sinner vs Alcaraz matches. This has been a delight.” The five-hour epic which finished at 2.50am was probably the match of the tournament and left the tennis world in awe.

Perhaps unfortunate to run into a red-hot Caroline Garcia, but Coco Gauff has made strides this year and should be a regular feature in the second weeks of Grand Slams going forward.

“I wish I didn't have to play Iga every quarter-final or Ash Barty.” Jessica Pegula has made the quarters at three of the four majors this season and lost to the current world No. 1 each time. Even though she was left “deflated” after her latest defeat to Iga Swiatek she is continuing to improve and could take another step in 2023, especially if she gets a kind draw.

Hard-hitting lefty Jack Draper followed up his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Montreal by beating top-50 player Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round at the US Open and then powering past sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. The 20-year-old might have gone further had a hamstring injury not forced him to retire against Karen Khachanov. Draper is now up to 46 in the rankings, from 272 a year ago, and is one of the top young talents on tour.

Andy Murray looked impressive in making the third round and produced a decent performance in a four-set defeat against Matteo Berrettini. “I’m surprised I'm still able to compete with guys that are right up at the top of the game,” said Murray afterwards. “I'm hoping that in the future I can go further.” Is there still more to come from Murray? The US Open was a step in the right direction after a previously disappointing hard-court summer.

Everything that needs to be said about Serena Williams has already been said, but it’s worth appreciating just how great her farewell was. Yes she didn’t win the tournament and finally tie Margaret Court’s record in true fairytale fashion, but two wins, including one over the second seed Anett Kontaveit, the on-court ceremony after the first-round victory (far, far better than after a loss), some vintage Serena shot making, and Arthur Ashe rocking like never before? Not a bad way to go out after playing just a handful of matches over the past 14 months.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has got some figuring out to do at the third and fourth Grand Slams of the season. At the Australian Open and French Open – where he’s made a combined four semi-finals and one final – his win-loss record is 33-11, but at Wimbledon and the US Open – where only once in 10 combined showings has he made it past the third round – he’s 10-10. He’s shown he has the tools to be a top player but something seems slightly amiss lately.

Three of the top 11 women’s seeds out in the first round, three of the top five out in round two. On the one hand it shows the women’s game is extremely competitive and close, but should we also expect better from the likes of world No. 3 Maria Sakkari and world No. 4 Paula Badosa than to lose so early at such a big event?

The clean slate starts here. No longer the reigning US Open women’s champion – now what does the future hold for Emma Raducanu? Having slipped down to No. 82 in the rankings there will be less fanfare around her going forward and she said she expects to have the “target” off her back. Here’s hoping she can play more freely again and start stacking up some wins.

At times Daniil Medvedev has looked almost unbeatable on hard courts, but not this summer. He has more defeats to Nick Kyrgios – two – than titles – one – and has slipped from world No. 1 for the second time this season. Was the extra rest due to missing Wimbledon actually a hindrance rather than a positive as it disrupted his season? There was an acknowledgement after his fourth-round US Open exit that he needs to improve. “That's motivation, try to do better. Obviously it was the last Slam of the year. Didn't do well enough. Didn't win in Australia when I had the chance. Didn't get the chance to play Wimbledon. Roland Garros, lost fourth round. Here, fourth round. Yeah, should do better.”