The 19-year-old Spaniard and sensational highlight reel, whose superb shooting and hard hustle have seen him emerge as the new face of the sport, came from behind 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 ( 5), 6-3 thriller to book a place in Sunday’s final against fifth-seeded Kasper Ruud, who battled Karen Khachanov in the day’s first semi-final. Against a confident home opponent and the raucous atmosphere of nearly 24,000 spectators almost entirely in the American’s corner, Alvarez produced his best tennis moment after moment with a poise and nerve beyond his years, finishing the deepest run by an American man at the US Open since Andy Roddick reached the 2006 final and further builds 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 natural 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 two previous matches at this tournament lasted nearly 10 hours and each ended well after 2 a.m. local time, who produced a champion’s finish by winning four of the last five games since he had a match in the fourth. Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Hyattsville, Maryland, 22nd, was the first American to reach the last four at the home slam since Roddick and was trying to become the first black American to reach a major final since MaliVai Washington. at Wimbledon in 1996. “Very good from Carlos tonight,” Tiafoe said afterwards, wiping away tears. “I gave him everything I’ve got tonight and I’ve given him everything I’ve had the last two weeks. I came here to win the US Open and I feel like I let everyone down. It really hurts. I’ll come back and win it one day.” The first set unfolded on even terms for the opening half-hour as the players traded intense ground moves that topped 100mph, the intensity smoldering 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 crisp ace and backhand volley. Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to turn, only to break out of a 4-5, 30-40 tie showing a glimpse of the tactical intelligence and intricate point construction he’s relied on throughout his breakout season. But after saving a set point to hold at 5-6 and then three more in the first-set tiebreak, Alcaraz finally hit in the fifth with a double fault that gave Tiafoe the lead and fired up the crowd that included Michelle Obama on the field. After an exchange of holds to open the second, Alcaraz faced another moment of body control at 30-all when Tiafoe capped another hyperactive rally with a deft backhand volley winner for break point. But Alcaraz coolly brushed it aside with a cheeky drop shot just inside the baseline, then held on after getting the best of a wild 17-stroke rally in which both players looked beaten more than once, a streak that left Tiafoe unable to contain his laughter as he collapsed into his chair in transition. Alcaraz held his nerve long enough to win a coveted break point opportunity at 2-3, 30-40. Tiafoe saved it with a stunning 136mph service winner, but the Spaniard grabbed his second chance moments later when Tiafoe overcooked a baseline forehand. Even with the second set looking lost, the American dug in enough to make things complicated, battling the kind of mental frailty against top players that has been done to him in recent years. Having split the opening two sets, both players came out of the off-court bathroom breaks in a best-of-three match for a place in the final, but Tiafoe’s first sustained mental frustration cost him dearly as he broke straight away to love. to open the third. Alcaraz calmly supported the break at love to extend a streak of 10 straight points, mixing topspin and spicing up rallies with greater frequency and wearing Tiafoe down both mentally and physically with his variety of shotmaking. After breaking twice more to close out the third set in a quick 33 minutes without facing a break point, Alcarez pumped his fist towards his box as silence fell over the crowd. Tiafoe’s spiral continued in the fourth, dragged into a maelstrom of double faults and unforced errors that left his composure shaken as he lost nine of 10 games. Alcaraz pounced on his foe, pulling him with drops before punishing him with surgical passes. If it had been a boxing match, the referee might have stepped forward to take a long, hard look at things. And when Tiafoe broke on the opening serve of the set, the match seemed only a handshake away. But Tiafoe somehow won the count. He broke Alcaraz for the first time all night in the next game to get back on serve, fell behind again by a break in the very next game, then broke once more to send the crowd into deafening roars. After chasing a 4-5 match to come back from the brink, the former First Lady sprang from her courtside seat and pumped her fist as a wall of sound descended from the mezzanine. Soon, Tiafoe had forced a fifth and deciding set by winning his eighth tiebreak in as many chances in the tournament, eclipsing Pete Sampras’ previous US Open record of seven from seven. “It was a difficult moment for me, to lose this match [point] that way, making a drop shot that I could finish with a good forehand that I was hitting pretty well,” Alcaraz said. “I thought it’s a new match in the fifth set. I have to stay there playing, playing well, playing my game and I believe.” The crowd fell silent once again when Alcaraz struck out to open the fifth. By then, they should have known better as the relentless Tiafoe broke back in the fourth game, pumping his fist as he sprinted to his chair. But from there the American broke from love in the blink of an eye, double-faulting on triple break point. As the bout entered its fifth hour, Alcaraz immediately consolidated the break at love, then put Tiafoe away with one high-percentage shot after another, pressing the will of his opponent and the gallery until he crossed the finish line at five past midnight. 4 hours 19 minutes. Already the youngest men’s grand slam semifinalist since Nadal’s 2005 French Open breakthrough, Alcaraz becomes only the second teenager to reach a US Open men’s final in the professional era since Pete Sampras in 1990. If he prevails in Sunday’s final, Alcaraz will become the youngest player to reach No. 1 in the ATP World Rankings. Tiafoe, whose $1.3 million earnings for reaching the semifinals and beating 22-time major champion Nadal along the way offered little solace in the bitter aftermath, could only tip his hat. “He’s one of the best players in the world, for sure,” he said. “He’s so young. He hits the ball so hard. I’ve never played a guy who moves as well as him, honestly. I’ve seen him take a lot of balls, but I’ve been hitting some drop volleys that I’ve hit. It’s getting there. How he can extend points, unbelievable. “He’s a hell of a player. It will be a problem for a long time.”
