Top 10 youngest men’s US Open winners: Pete Sampras and Carlos Alcaraz the only teenagers on the list
Carlos Alcaraz came close to breaking Pete Sampras’ record as the youngest men’s US Open winner last year, but who else features in the rest of the top 10?
10. Roger Federer – 23 years and 22 days – 2004 US Open
Barely two months after winning a second Wimbledon title, Roger Federer won his maiden US Open title as he drugged Lleyton Hewitt 6–0, 7–6 (7–3), 6–0 at Flushing Meadows.
The win saw him push Mats Wilander out of the top 10 as the Swede was 24 years old when he won the title in 1988.
It was the first of five consecutive titles for Federer in New York as he was unbeaten at the season-ending Grand Slam until September 14, 2009 when he lost against Juan Martin del Potro, who also features on the list.
9. Jimmy Connors – 21 years, 11 months and 26 days – 1974 US Open
When Jimmy Connors defeated Australian Ken Rosewall in the 1974 US Open final, he became the youngest player to win the title.
Connors took just over an hour to beat Rosewall, 6–1, 6–0, 6–1 and it was his third Grand Slam of the year and of his career as he also won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1974.
8. Boris Becker – 21 years, nine months and 6 days – 1989 US Open
Boris Becker became the youngest-ever Grand Slam winner when he won Wimbledon at the age of 17 years, seven months and two days in 1985.
Just over four years later he won his first and last US Open trophy when he defeated top seed 7–6 (7–2), 1–6, 6–3, 7–6 (7–4) in the final. Becker remains the only German man to win the US Open title.
7. Andy Roddick – 20 years, 11 months and 26 days – 2003 US Open
Andy Roddick won his maiden and only Grand Slam title when he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6–3, 7–6 (7–2), 6–3 in the 2003 US Open final.
He remains the last American man to win a major title.
6. Juan Martin Del Potro – 20 years, 11 months and eight days – 2009 US Open
Roger Federer was gunning for a record-breaking sixth US Open title in a row in 2009, but he ran into big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the final.
Del Potro took out Rafael Nadal in the semi-final before beating Federer 3–6, 7–6 (7–5), 4–6, 7–6 (7–4), 6–2 in the final.
It was the only Grand Slam that the Big Four of Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray failed to win between the 2005 Australian Open and the 2014 Australian Open.
5. Marat Safin – 20 years, seven months and one day – 2000 US Open
Marat Safin became the second Russian to win a Grand Slam after Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s 1999 Australian Open success when he stunned four-time US Open champion Pete Sampras 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 in the final.
He won his second and final major nearly five years later at the 2005 Australian Open.
4. John McEnroe – 20 years, six months and 12 days – 1979 US Open
John McEnroe replaced Jimmy Connors at the top of the list as the youngest-ever US Open winner when he beat Vitas Gerulaitis 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 in the showpiece match.
The American would go on to win six more Grand Slams.
3. Lleyton Hewitt – 20 years, six months and three days – 2001 US Open
Fourth seed Lleyton Hewitt denied Pete Sampras his fifth title at Flushing Meadows although the American went on to get number five the following year.
Hewitt beat Sampras 7–6 (7–4), 6–1, 6–1 for the first of his two Grand Slam titles and he is the last Australian man to win a major.
2. Carlos Alcaraz – 19 years, three months and 24 days – 2022 US Open
Not too many expected Carlos Alcaraz’s first maiden Grand Slam title to come on hard court, but the Spaniard stormed his way to his title.
Alcaraz enjoyed a barnstorming 2022 season and he capped it off by defeating Casper Ruud 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 (7–1), 6–3 in the US Open final and in the process he also became the youngest ever world No 1.
1. Pete Sampras – 19 years and 15 days – 1990 US Open
Pete Sampras remains the youngest US Open champion as he had barely turned 19 when he defeated Andre Agassi 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 in the 1990 final.
It was the first of Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles – which was the Open Era record until it was broken by Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009.
It was an impressive run from the 12th-seeded Sampras as he defeated Ivan Lendl in the quarter-final, John McEnroe in the semi-final and Agassi in the final.
READ MORE: Youngest players to win Wimbledon: Boris Becker still unmatched as Carlos Alcaraz enters top 10
