Alcaraz saves MP and wins a late night battle against Sinner to reach maiden Grand Slam semifinal at US Open
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner took care of one of the best quarterfinal matches of the history of US Open.
The two youngsters are set for a huge rivalry in the future and they prove it with every match they play. This time they played already three times and after the Italian won the first two matches, now it was time for Carlos Alcaraz to get his first win of the season against Jannik Sinner.
But it didn't seem like a reality in some stages of this match that can be compared to a rollercoaster. In the first set, the Spaniard started with a break but he was soon broken back and his opponent was up 3-2. Then, world number 4 played a few incredible games and won four in a row to take the first set, 6-3.
Second set was the second longest in the match. Sinner got an early break and at 5-4 he was serving for a set. However, his opponent fought back as he won 10 points in a row and even got four set points to finish off the set. But he couldn't and so it had to be decided in a tie-break.
Both players had their chance to win the tie-break but they missed their first opportunities and so the score was 7-7. But since then, the Italian won both points to level score of the match.
In the third set, players traded breaks once again and this time it was Alcaraz who was serving for a set. But his opponent stayed calm, won 9 points in a row to break him back and win the third-set tie-break 7-0 to lead the match.
The fourth set was also dominated by Sinner for the majority of the time as he got the first break and soon led 3-1. Despite losing it then, he added another and at 5-4 he was serving for a match and had a match point.
But once again, Alcaraz fought back, won 11 out of 12 next points and made it 2-2 as fans in New York were about to see a decider after 4 hours and 28 minutes.
It was anyone's match in the fifth set. Sinner got the first break and it looked like he will leave the Arthur Ashe Stadium as the happier player. But the Spaniard managed to win four games in a row once more to win the match 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 and set up a semifinal clash with Frances Tiafoe.
Probably every tennis fan and tennis player watched this thriller when Feliciano Lopez tweeted: "Seems like i am watching a table tennis match." Stan Wawrinka joined him: "How good is this match."
"Honestly, I still don't know how I did it," said Alcaraz. "You have to believe in yourself. I believed in my game. It was really difficult to close out the match. I tried to stay calm, but it is difficult in the moment."
"It's not easy to talk now because I finished the match not so long ago. But it was a good match from my side, from his side. Could finish in three sets, could finish in four sets, could finish in five sets. The level was high," Sinner said. "At some point I didn't serve that well, but he was returning well. It was a good match. Obviously the crowd was good. For me only the second time on Ashe. So it was a good match for sure. But a very, very tough one."
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