Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from his first Grand Slam title – and the world’s No. 1 ranking – after defeating American Frances Tiafoe in the US Open semi-finals in five sets on Friday night.
The 19-year-old Spaniard and a conscious highlighting reel, whose impressive shots and stubborn hustle made him see him as the new face of the sport, came from behind at 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 thriller to book a place in Sunday’s final against fifth seed Kasper Rudd, who Fight Karen Khachanov In the first semi-final today.
Facing a home opponent brimming with confidence and the sparkling atmosphere of almost an entire 24,000 spectators in the American corner, Alvarez delivered in one moment of pressure after another with poise and nerves beyond his years, adding to his reputation as the best teenager in men’s tennis since Rafael Nadal in nearly two decades. from time.
For over four hours Alcaraz and Tiafoe traded Hellfire in bodily base gatherings and tested their vast mobility to the limit in dazzling cat-and-mouse exchanges that covered every inch of the playing field. But it was Alcaraz, seeded No. 3, whose previous two matches in this tournament lasted nearly 10 hours and both finished just after 2 a.m. local time, who took the final kick for the champions by winning four of their last five matches after taking the match point in fourth.
The 24-year-old from Hyatsville, Maryland, ranked 22nd, was the first American man to reach the US Open semi-finals since Andy Roddick in 2006 and has been trying to become the first black American man to reach a major final since then. Malevay Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.
“I gave him everything I had tonight and I gave him everything I had for the past two weeks,” emotional Tiafoe said afterwards. “I will come back and win this thing one day.”
The first set was revealed on equal terms in the opening half hour as the players exchanged powerful ground blows of up to 100mph, building flaring tension with each successive hold. Tiafoe survived the first test in the seventh inning, holding from his double-break point down, and then again in the next serve game, holding a 15-30 with a powerful one-stroke.
Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to duck, only to escape the constraints of 4-5, 30-40 by showing a glimpse of the tactical intelligence and advanced point-building that he’s relied on throughout his season of accomplishments. But after saving a set point to hold at 5-6, and then three more points in the first set tiebreak, Alcaraz finally took out in the fifth set with a double-fault that gave Tiafoe the opening goal and ignited the partisan crowd that included Michelle Obama on the field.
After a booking deal to open the second, Alcaraz faced yet another canal check moment at 30-all, when Tiafoe capped another hyper-movement rally with a winner with a masterful breaking point backhandkick. But Alcaraz quietly shrugged it off with a neat shot from inside the baseline, then continued to hold on after getting the best of a gruesome 17-stroke rally in which both players looked to be hit more than once, a sequence that left Tiafoe unable to contain. He laughed as he sat in his chair when changing.
Alcaraz kept his nerves long enough to earn a long-awaited points break opportunity at 2-3, 30-40. Tiafoe saved it with a 136 mph shot, but the Spaniard seized his second chance moments later when Tiafoe over-scored a forehand from the baseline. Even with the second set appearing as a loser, the American dug in long enough to make things complicated, battling the kind of mental breakdown against elite players he’s had in recent years.
Splitting the opening sets, both players exited bathroom breaks off the field to their best-of-three match for a place in the final, but Tiafoe’s mental disappointment extended into the night cost him dearly as he was instantly broken in love. To open the third. Alcaraz quietly backed the break with Love’s suspension to extend a 10-point streak, mixing topspin and seasoning inside the gatherings with greater frequency and bouncing Tiafoe down with his assortment of shots. After breaking two more times to wrap up the third set in a quick 33 minutes without facing a break point, Alcarez pumped his fist toward his chest as silence fell on the crowd.
Snail Tiafoe continued in fourth, being dragged downhill in a whirlpool of double faults and non-forced errors that left his composure shattered. Alcaraz pounced on his reluctant opponent, pulling him inside with a heartbeat before punishing him with surgical passes. Had it been a boxing match, the referee might have come forward to take a long and hard look at things. And when Tiafoe was broken in the opener of the group, the match seemed to be all but handshake.
But Tiafoe somehow beat the count. Alcaraz first broke all night in the next game to get his serve back, fell off a break again the next game, then broke again to send the crowd into a deafening roar. After chasing a match point at 4-5 to scrape off a cliff edge, the former First Lady got off her seat on the court and raised her fist as a wall of sound cascaded off the mezzanine. Before long, Tiafoe forced the fifth set and clinched the set by winning his eight tiebreakers from many chances in the tournament, eclipsing Pete Sampras’ previous US Open record of seven of seven.
The crowd was silenced again when the Carraz broke to open the fifth. By then, they should have known better as the relentless Tiafoe who broke again in match four, pumping his fist as he ran back to his chair. But from there the American crashed in the blink of an eye, making a double fault at the triple breaking point. With the match going into its fifth hour, Alcaraz immediately cemented the break with a love fist, then ground Tiafoe away with one high percentage shot after another, squeezing the will of his opponent and the gallery until crossing the finish line at five o’clock to midnight after 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Already the youngest player to reach the men’s Grand Slam semi-finals since Nadal’s breakthrough during the 2005 French Open, Alcaraz became the second teenager to reach the men’s US Open final in the professional era after Pete Sampras in 1990. If he wins Sunday’s final, Alcaraz would become Youngest player ever to reach #1 in the ATP rankings. Tiafoe, whose $1.3 million winnings to reach the semi-finals offered little solace in the aftermath of the bitter disaster, couldn’t help but tip his hat.
“He’s one of the best players in the world for sure,” he said. “He’s so small. He hits the ball really hard. I’ve never played a man who moves like him, honestly. I’ve seen him get a lot of balls, but I’ve been shooting some down balls that I’ve been shooting at. He’s getting there. How he’s able to extend points, unbelievable.” .
“He’s a player from hell. It’s going to be a problem for a very long time.”
