NEW YORK (AFP) – Carlos Alcaraz battled past Jannik Sinner in five sets to reach the US Open semifinals on Thursday in the latest ever finish in the tournament’s 141-year history.
A thrilling 5-hour and15-minute duel that finished at 2:50am local time ended with the 19-year-old Alcaraz claiming a 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-7 (0/7), 7-5, 6-3 victory to advance to a last-four showdown with Frances Tiafoe of the United States on Friday.
Tiafoe defeated Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, and moved to within two wins of becoming the first African-American in 54 years to win the US Open.
The 24-year-old has lit up this year’s championships after a giant-killing run that saw him eliminate Rafael Nadal before Wednesday’s quarter-final demolition of Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
The previous record for the latest finish to a US Open match was 2:26am, which had been set three times before.
Incredibly, it was the second early-hours-of-the-morning finish for Alcaraz this week.
Earlier, Iga Swiatek reached her third Grand Slam semifinal of 2022 on Wednesday and first at the US Open with an error-strewn triumph over Jessica Pegula, the last remaining American woman in the tournament.
French Open champion Swiatek claimed a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win, her third against Pegula this year.
In Thursday’s semifinal, the 21-year-old Pole will face Aryna Sabalenka who she has also got the better of on three occasions this season.
World number six Sabalenka made the last-four for a second successive year with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) victory over former finalist Karolina Pliskova.
