Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday defeated Italian Jannik Sinner 6-3 , 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 and qualified for the first time in his career to US Open semifinals securing himself in the top 3 and with a chance of becoming No1 in the world next week.
The two players battled point by point for a place in the semifinals despite their exhaustion and the lengthy nature of the match, hitting, running, and climbing to the net to return balls that appeared to be out of reach. To seal the win, Alcaraz came to save two match points from Sinner.
“It felt great, but probably at the end of the match I was in my end. It was really, really tough for me, but through the whole match, five hours and 15 minutes, felt well, physically. Of course the level of tennis that we played, it was really, really high.” Alcaraz said.
“It’s unbelievable the match today. Jannik Sinner is a great player. I will never be tired to say that all the wins I have in this amazing court is thanks to the support I receive.” Alcaraz added.
The 19-year-old man has already won four titles this year, which is how he comes to be in a position to claim the world No1 spot so early in his career.
Carlos came in the US Open in 2021 at the age of 18 as a young tennis promise occupying the 55th position in the ranking and surprised Britain’s Cameron Norrie, at the time seeded number 26, in his debut by 3 sets to 0.
He still won one more match to secure a duel against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals after beating Tsitsipas in a five-set match in the third Round. But the game was frustrated. Alcaraz abandoned the game at the beginning of the second set with an injury.
Alcaraz and American talent Frances Tiafoe on Saturday will square off in their first ever Grand Slam semifinals for a place in the US Open 2022 final.
