Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from a maiden grand slam title – and the world No 1 ranking – after outlasting Frances Tiafoe of the United States in a sensational five-set US Open semi-final on Friday night.
The 19-year-old Spaniard and sentient highlight reel, whose sublime shotmaking and dogged hustle have seen him tabbed as the new face of the sport, came from behind in a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 thriller to book a place in Sunday’s final opposite fifth-seeded Casper Ruud, who battled past Karen Khachanov in the day’s first semi-final.
Up against a homestanding opponent brimming with confidence and the crackling atmosphere of nearly 24,000 spectators almost entirely in the American’s corner, Alvarez conjured his best tennis in one pressure moment after another with a poise and nerve beyond his years, ending the deepest run by an American man at the US Open since Andy Roddick reached the 2006 final and further building on his reputation as the best teenager in men’s tennis since Rafael Nadal nearly two decades ago.
For more than four hours Alcaraz and Tiafoe traded hellfire in physical baseline rallies and tested their ample movement to the limit in dazzling cat-and-mouse exchanges that covered every inch of the court. But it was Alcaraz, the No 3 seed whose previous two matches in this tournament spanned nearly 10 hours and each finished well past 2am local time, who delivered the finishing kick of a champion by winning four of the last five games after holding match point in the fourth.
Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Hyattsville, Maryland, seeded 22nd, was the first American man to reach the last four at his home slam since Roddick and was bidding to become the first Black American man to reach a major final since MaliVai Washington at Wimbledon in 1996.
“Too good from Carlos tonight,” Tiafoe said afterward, wiping away tears. “I gave it everything I have tonight and I gave it everything I had for the last two weeks. I came here to win the US Open and I feel I let everybody down. It really hurts. I’m going to come back and I will win this thing one day.”
The first set unfolded on even terms for the opening half hour as the players traded searing groundstrokes clocking upwards of 100mph, the smoldering tension building with each successive hold. Tiafoe survived the first test in the seventh game, holding from double break point down, then again in the next service game, holding from 15-30 with a crunching ace and a backhand volley.
Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to wriggle, only to escape from a 4-5, 30-40 bind by showing a glimpse of the tactical intelligence and sophisticated point construction he’s relied on throughout his breakthrough season. But after saving a set point to hold at 5-6, then three more in the first-set tiebreaker, Alcaraz finally cracked on the fifth with a double fault that handed Tiafoe the opener and ignited the partisan crowd that included Michelle Obama at courtside.
After a trade of holds to open the second, Alcaraz faced another gut-check moment serving at 30-all, when Tiafoe capped another hyperkinetic rally with a deft backhand volley winner for break point. But Alcaraz coolly brushed it aside with a cheeky drop shot from just inside the baseline, then went on to hold after getting the best of an outrageous 17-stroke rally where both players looked beaten more than once, a sequence that left Tiafoe unable to contain his laughter as he slumped into his chair on the changeover.
Alcaraz held his nerve long enough to earn a long-sought break-point chance at 2-3, 30-40. Tiafoe saved it with a blistering 136mph service winner, but the Spaniard seized on his second chance moments later when Tiafoe overcooked a forehand from the baseline. Even with the second set appearing lost, the American dug in long enough to make things complicated, fighting off the sort of mental lapse against elite players that has done him in in recent years.
Having split the opening two sets, both…