“I feel great,” Carlos Alcaraz said when asked how he was physically after clocking in another post-midnight shift. He flashed a big smile. “Right now, I mean, a little bit tired. But yeah, feel great.”
Great, for Alcaraz was into his first Grand Slam final beating Frances Tiafoe 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the US Open semi-final. Little bit tired, for it was Alcaraz’s third straight five-set tug of war, the matches lasting for three hours, 54 minutes, 5:15—the
“I feel great,” Carlos Alcaraz said when asked how he was physically after clocking in another post-midnight shift. He flashed a big smile. “Right now, I mean, a little bit tired. But yeah, feel great.”
Great, for Alcaraz was into his first Grand Slam final beating Frances Tiafoe 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the US Open semi-final. Little bit tired, for it was Alcaraz’s third straight five-set tug of war, the matches lasting for three hours, 54 minutes, 5:15—the second-longest match in US Open history—and 4:19.
Yet, throughout the Friday night marathon, not once did the 19-year-old seem physically fragile, emotionally fatigued or mentally down for a fight. Not once did the Spaniard appear to be losing control of the match and commitment of the mind. Not even when a match point slipped away in the fourth set, which would’ve seen him pack up at least an hour earlier. Instead, he braced himself to dig in for another lap to get to the finish line.
“We’re in a semifinal of a Grand Slam. We have to give everything we have inside, fight until the last ball—doesn’t matter for five hours or six,” Alcaraz said in the courtside interview.
Make that “final of a Grand Slam”. In only his second season of competing in them and in a year of winning four titles and rising to No 4 in the world rankings.
Facing him will be Casper Ruud, the world No 7 with three claycourt titles this season. The 23-year-old Norwegian’s 7-6(5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 semi-final win over Russian Karen Khachanov had fewer minutes and moments of drama save a 55-point rally—the longest in this tournament—that he won to close out the first set and open the gate to his second Slam final of the year after the French Open.
Come Sunday in New York, there’s a first Grand Slam title up for grabs for both, as also the world No 1 tag in a winner-takes-all final. “It’s amazing to be able to fight for big things,” Alcaraz said. He earned that with a big semi-final performance that had both players flaunt their fluid court movement and dish out over 50 winners.
The first set lasting over an hour was especially tight, although it anti-climactically ended with American Tiafoe sealing a fifth set point courtesy a double fault by the Spaniard in the tie-breaker. Not before Alcaraz carried over more highlights-worthy spectacle from his quarter-final against Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz won an incredible exchange to unlock the tie-breaker, sprinting back from the net, across to his left and then to the right before ekeing out a forehand up-the-line winner with the body weight on the back foot. In the third game of the second set while saving a break point, Alcaraz covered the length of the baseline and beyond to defend a rally he won inducing an error from Tiafoe, who crossed over the net with a suggestive "stop it" gesture.
Except, there was more to come from the Spaniard who can become the youngest champion since Pete Sampras won the US Open in 1990 at 19 and the youngest ever world No 1.
Controlling the bulk of the rallies now, Alcaraz got the break in the sixth game to take the second set. A match of such rich quality often tends to leak a drop in level at some point. That happened in the one-sided third set where Tiafoe was broken to love after a string of errors for Alcaraz to run away with 12 of the first 13 points.
An exchange of breaks early in the fourth set sprang Tiafoe’s body language back to life. So did his game. Serving to stay in the contest, he saved a match point defending for his life—“putting my heart on the line,” he told his box—before delivering the deftest of drop winners. The American hadn’t lost a tie-breaker all tournament and wasn’t going to the eighth time over.
The Spaniard wasn’t going to be rolled over either. He kept at it, even after his early break was cancelled out for 2-2 in the fifth set. Tiafoe was broken again to love after a double fault, a delightful backhand lob on the run a couple of points before speaking as much of Alcaraz’s sustained quality.
With his first serve down to 33% for the set, Tiafoe was always up against it. More so as Alcaraz kept making those outrageous lobs, this time on the move from his forehand side to set up three more match points. He wouldn’t need any more of them.
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