Carlos Alcaraz sealed an incredible win in the battle of the young guns against Italian Jannik Sinner to progress to his first Grand Slam semi-final in what was the US Open 's latest ever match.
The Spanish teenager finally clinched victory at 2:50am, winning 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(0) 5-7 6-3 after five hours and 15 minutes to set up an exciting contest with American Frances Tiafoe on Friday. The 19-year-old had rescued his US Open campaign after surviving a match point scare in the fourth set.
This was the second time Alcaraz had played beyond 2am in succession after his fourth-round win over Croatian Marin Cilic finished at a late 2:23am.
"I still don't know how I did it," said Alcaraz on court after taking the victory.
"The level of the play and level of the match, the level of tennis was unbelievable. Jannik Sinner is a great player, everybody could see his level was amazing. I will never be tired to say that all the wins I've had on this amazing court is thanks to you (the crowd).
Despite Alcaraz winning the first set, his 21-year-old Italian opponent came fighting back winning the next two on tie-break and then had a match point to win the fourth set.
However, Alcaraz showed his fight to come roaring back winning the fourth set 7-5 and fifth and final set 6-3. "I always say that you have to believe in yourself all the time," said the Spaniard.
"The hope is the last thing that you lose. I believed in myself and believed in my game. I knew that the closer matches are really difficult in this round. It's really difficult to close a match so I had to stay in the match, try and stay calm.
"It was difficult to stay calm in that moment, but always believe in yourself."
In Friday's semi-final, Alcaraz faces 24-year-old Tiafoe who got his wish. When asked who he preferred to play in the last four, the American hoped that Alcaraz and Sinner played out an epic.
"I don't really have a preference," he said. "They are both great players. I just hope they play a marathon match, super-long match, and they get really tired come Friday."
