Carlos Alcaraz reaches first grand slam semifinal after marathon, late-night finish against Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz broke a four-year drought to reach the U.S. Open semifinals in his first appearance at Flushing Meadows. (Getty Images)
Carlos Alcaraz reached the U.S. Open semifinals after a 12-hour marathon on Sunday afternoon and then came out to enjoy his victory, after a late-night celebration in New York, before returning home to the Dominican Republic to his family and friends.
The 32-year-old Puerto Rican said he never wanted to retire but felt he had no choice under the circumstances.
“I just woke up last night, went to sleep yesterday at 10 p.m. (Tuesday) night and didn’t wake up until this morning, so it was a late night,” he said after his victory over Jannik Sinner, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0. “It’s one of my biggest dreams to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open.
“This is my third time playing in New York. I won the tournament in 2009 [at age 20,] and I won it again [in 2013,] so I feel like I’m good with my body to play on this kind of court. This is what I wanted to do. Obviously, I didn’t get to win, but I got to win on my home court where I’ve been playing for five years, so I did it.”
Although he finished with a game point in the fourth round, it took more than the rest of the field to force extra points on two separate occasions. He saved match points at 4-3 in the opener and also made match points at 5-4 in a tiebreaker before the third set.
Sinner had to come from way behind to force the tiebreaker at 3-3 at the