NEW YORK (AP) – Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe delivered a high-profile, energetic spectacle of a back-and-forth semifinal at the US Open — no point more than it seemed, no ball out of reach, no angle too daring.
One sequence was so full of “What?! How?!” Moments from both men that the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium were on their feet before it was over and stayed there, clapping and carousing as they watched a replay on the video screens.
In the end, enough winners went Alcaraz’ way and too many of the mistakes came from Tiafoe’s racquet. And so it was Alcaraz who stormed into his maiden Grand Slam final – while giving himself a chance to become No. 1 at the age of 19 – by matching Tiafoe’s run at Flushing Meadows with a 6-7 (6th place). ), 6 finished -3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Friday night.
“It was so electric. I mean, the tennis definitely fit the hype of the game. Incredible shots, points, crazy shots…at crazy times,” Tiafoe said. “Yes, I was angry.”
Alcaraz seemed to take control, winning nine games out of ten at once and could have ended the evening by holding a match point in the fourth set. But Tiafoe, who sits in 26th, saved it and was soon screaming, with some colorful language for emphasis, “I’m putting my heart on the line!” Soon after, Tiafoe was forcing a fifth set by tying for a US Open record improved from 8-0.
Still, Alcaraz showed no sign of fatigue despite playing a third straight five – including a quarter-final win spanning 5 hours and 15 minutes that ended at 2:50 on Thursday, the latest finish in tournament history – and was better when it was his had to, he won four of the last five games.
“I’m feeling great right now,” Alcaraz said nearly two hours after defeating Tiafoe, then adding, “I mean, a little bit tired.”
Now No. 3 Alcaraz meets No. 7 Casper Ruud in Championship Sunday with so much at stake: the winner will become a Major champion for the first time and top the rankings next week.
“It’s amazing to be able to fight for big things,” said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz and Tiafoe both made their big semi-final debuts and put on exceptionally entertaining performances for just over a set and just over an hour early, then again for the latter part of the fourth and the start of the fifth.
Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Maryland who eliminated 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, played to a sold-out crowd of more than 23,000, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, who often cried for more – and received noise. No wonder he was the first American in 16 years to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
“I feel like I let you goys down,” Tiafoe said during an unusual opportunity for a game’s loser to address the crowd in an on-court interview. “This hurts. This one really, really hurts.”
Alcaraz, who hails from Spain, is popular around the world, widely recognized as the sport’s future star and he is now the youngest US Open finalist of any country since Pete Sampras won the trophy in 1990 at the age of 19.
When Alcaraz took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, the spectators cheered him on with a football song of “Olé, Olé, Olé! Carlos!”
“People love to see this guy play, so they got behind him too,” Tiafoe said. “Of course I would have liked to win tonight, but I think tennis won tonight. I think the crowd got what they expected. I just wish I was the one who got the ‘W’.”
After that, Alcaraz spoke first in English, then in Spanish, telling his supporters that they helped him fight for “every point, every ball”. He patted his chest as he said this was “for my family, for my team, for me, for all of you.”
During the first semifinal of the day, with the first set ending with a 55-shot point, people shouted the winner’s last name – “Ruuuuud!” – and it sounded like booing instead of saluting. Ruud won that long rally, building an early lead and route to beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5) 6-2 5-7 6-2.
“Towards the end,” said Ruud, a 23-year-old Norwegian, about the longest point of this US Open, “the heart rate was really high and the legs were almost shaking.”
Either Ruud, runner-up to Nadal at the French Open in June, will make a six-place jump, the biggest jump ever at No. 1, or Alcaraz will become the youngest man to top the ATP since computerization has The ranking began in 1973.
There were so many memorable conversations and scenes between Tiafoe and Alcaraz. One arrived in the third game of set number two when Alcaraz saved a break point and continued to hold. A smiling Tiafoe jokingly climbed over the net at Alcaraz’s side as if to shake hands at the end of the game.
If this semi-final actually ended on the spot, no one could have complained about the product. It would take a total of 4 hours and 19 minutes.
Wearing matching shirts – red on the front, white on the back, burgundy on the side – they were evenly matched in every respect for long stretches, including to 6-all in the opening tiebreak.
Alcaraz, who by that point had already saved four set points, offered a fifth by sending a backhand wide and then made it easy for Tiafoe to convert that through a double fault. As the crowd roared, Alcaraz hung his head, went to his sideline seat and banged his racquet on his kit bag.
He regrouped and broke to go up in set number two and a crucial point came as Alcaraz served 5-3 but faced a break point. He grabbed a cross-court forehand winner to nix that chance for Tiafoe, beginning a run that saw Alcaraz claim 11 straight points and 19 of 22 to own that set and a 4-0 leadership in the third.
As with that forehand, Alcaraz often snatches the ball with devotion – and somehow with precision, aiming for the lines and finding them. He won no fewer than three points from the first set with shots that hit the outside edge of the white color with no margin.
After one, Tiafoe went over for a light-hearted exchange with Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open winner and briefly No. 1 himself. But make no mistake: Alcaraz is not a hang-back baseliner. He has a varied all-court game and showed his skills by winning points through acrobatic volleys, feathered drop shots and perfectly parabolic lobs.
Aside from that break in sets two and three and late in the fifth, Tiafoe was also exceptional and had the time of his life throughout.
“I’ll come back,” Tiafoe said, “and I’ll win this thing one day.”
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