A tennis match became a marathon.
And Carlos Alcaraz became a U.S. Open semifinalist, collapsing onto the Arthur Ashe court on his back, overcome with emotion.
The Spanish teenager outlasted rival Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 in a quarterfinal match for the ages — not just in terms of level, but length as well.
This classic lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, going into the wee hours Thursday morning, ending at 2:50 a.m. It was the latest-ending match in U.S. Open history.
“Honestly, I still don’t know how I did it,” Alcaraz said in an on-court TV interview.
“The level that I played, the level of the match, a high quality of tennis. It’s unbelievable, the match. “Jannik Sinner is a good player. His level is just amazing.”
The third-seeded Alcaraz is through to the semis after outlasting Sinner in one of the most stunning matches of recent U.S. Open memory, breaking the tourney record for the latest finish.
Alcaraz, just 19, is aiming to become the youngest world No. 1 in rankings history, and will do so if he beats American Frances Tiafoe to reach the final and Casper Ruud (on the other side of the bracket) falls in his semifinal. Alcaraz still can take the top spot if he wins the title — and right now, it would be hard to bet against him.
The teenager took the first set 6-3, and looked set to take the second. He had five set points only to see his 11th-seededf foe stave off every one — four at 5-6 down.
Despite a highlight behind-the-back save, Alcaraz lost that set, falling 9-7 in the tiebreaker. Then he served for the third set, only to have Sinner fight that off and sweep that tiebreaker 7-0.
But Alcaraz — who already had won two matches earlier this year after facing match point — did it again, pulling off an even more impressive encore considering the foe. He fought off match point for Sinner, taking the fourth set 7-5 at 2 a.m.
The Spaniard fell behind 3-2 in the fifth after being broken. But Alcaraz broke back twice, and served out the match.
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