NEW YORK/STARNBERG, September 8, 2022
Carlos Alcaraz has reached the semi-finals of the US Open. The 19-year-old Spaniard battled past Italy’s Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 in Wednesday’s night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Third-seeded Alcaraz saved one match point the fourth set in a high-quality encounter, which ended after five hours and 15 minutes at 2:50 a.m. local time. The late-night thriller was the second-longest match in US Open history. It surpassed the previous record for latest finish of 2:26 a.m., set three times, most recently in 2014. The record for longest match is 5:26, set by Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang in 1992.
The ATP website stated: “The level was so high, the match could be remembered as the moment in which Alcaraz and Sinner stepped out of the shadow of the ‘Big Three’ era.”
Un-believable.@carlosalcaraz we have no words. pic.twitter.com/3fflDLRiUb
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2022
“Honestly, I still don’t know how I did it. You have to believe in yourself. I believed in my game,” said Alcaraz.
“It was really difficult to close out the match. I tried to stay calm, but it is difficult in the moment.”
The World No. 4 will next take on US-American Frances Tiafoe, who defeated No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0), 6-4 in two hours and 36 minutes earlier in the day.
