As chants of their last name rang out through the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Casper Ruud’s father proudly recorded a video of him accepting the US Open runner-up trophy. “Good memory for life,” Christian Ruud said.

It might have been so much better had Casper been able to win the third set when he had chances. Unable to convert two set points there, Ruud lost to Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 on Sunday in his second grand slam final. The younger Ruud also was the runner-up at the French Open in June against Rafael Nadal.

“In Roland Garros, it was hard for me to believe that I could beat Rafa,” Ruud said. “Today was not easier, but I believed it more. I think these two tournaments have sort of made my self-belief to win a grand slam grow. Both Christian, a former ATP Tour pro who now coaches his son, and Casper lamented the chances that got away when Alcaraz served trailing 6-5 in the third set.

Ruud would get two chances to take the set in what became a 16-point game, but Alcaraz would erase them both on trips to the net. Ruud then committed four unforced errors in the tie-breaker to help Alcaraz run away with it.

“I should maybe have gone for a little bit more,” Ruud said. “Yeah, you can say that might have been — that was the set that maybe decided the match. It was one set each, very close, and long third set. I played a horrible tie-break, unfortunately too many mistakes. Sort of couldn’t get those set points out of my head.”

There was nothing really to regret in June, given his opponent. Nadal has won the French Open 14 times and gone 112-3 overall. Ruud never really had a chance, losing 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. But this match — along with the No. 1 ranking if he won — could have been there for the taking.

“He had a better chance and it showed in the match result also, with the set points in the third set,” Christian said. “And at least then you have a five-setter and yeah, I think that was the key point of the match.”

Alcaraz then broke for a 4-2 lead in the fourth and served too well from there, finishing the match with two aces and a service winner in the final game. Ruud moves up to No. 2 in the rankings but will have to wait to become Norway’s first man to win a grand slam title.

He is 0-6 against top-10 players in the four biggest tournaments, so will have to be better when he faces the best. He has one idea that might help. “I hope I don’t play a Spanish player if I ever reach another grand slam final,” he said with a smile.

“They know what they’re doing in the slam finals. Let’s hope for another than a Spanish.” Known for his claycourt prowess, Ruud enjoyed a superb 2022 that saw him collect titles at Gstaad, Geneva and Buenos Aires. He showed he could be just as effective on New York’s hard courts, beating 13th seed Matteo Berrettini in the quarter finals and Russian Karen Khachanov in the semis. Ruud said Alcaraz, who also defeated him at the Miami final, was definitely a “hard nut to crack”.