Alcaraz becomes youngest champion in Miami Open history with straight-set victory over Ruud

Spanish fans brought plenty of their nation's flags to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Fla., thrusting them into the air whenever things were going well for Carlos Alcaraz.

He kept them busy, all the way to the end.

Spain finally has a Miami Open men's champion: an 18-year-old who wasn't even in the top 100 of the world rankings at this time a year ago and now heads into the clay-court season arguably playing as well as anyone. Alcaraz, the No. 14 seed, shook off a slow start to beat sixth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway 7-5, 6-4 in Sunday's final.

He became the youngest champion in Miami Open history — Novak Djokovic was 19 when he won the tournament, then the NASDAQ-100 Open, for the first time — and picked up $1,231,245 US for the victory, nearly doubling his career earnings with one check.