Carlos Alcaraz is through to the US Open final after winning a third straight match in five sets, this time against Frances Tiafoe.
Carlos Alcaraz has stunned the tennis world after surviving another five-set marathon to earn a spot in the US Open final at the expense of house hope Frances Tiafoe.
6-1 6-7 (7-5) 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, giving himself a chance to win the number 1 in the world ranking against Casper Ruud in the final.
No. 3 Alcaraz advanced by winning nine of 10 games in one stretch and could have finished the semi-final.
Showing no signs of fatigue following his five-hour, 15-minute quarterfinal win that ended at 2:50 am Thursday, Alcaraz fared better down the stretch, winning four of the last five games.
Tennis fans were utterly engrossed in the match as momentum swung between players.
Chance to seize the record for the youngest world number one from Australian great Lleyton Hewitt collapsed to the ground after finally taking down Tiafoe.
The losing American looked classy afterward, telling the raucous home crowd that he felt he had 'let everyone down' before vowing to come back and win next year.
Alcaraz seemed well on his way to set things right by breaking Tiafoe early in the fourth set, but the American once again put the stadium on his side with two straight breaks from Alcaraz to tie the fourth set 4-4, largely thanks to a run where he won eight of the last 10 points.
The Spaniard, however, never went away, coming through the next game to earn a victory point before Tiafoe responded with a great save to send Alcaraz on serve at 5-5.
After going 5-5, Tiafoe drilled an ace serving at 133 mph, took the victory, and sent the match to a fifth set.
Even with Tiafoe riding on all that momentum and excitement, Alcaraz regained control with a break to open the fifth set.
Tiafoe followed as first serve misses and errors avoided from the baseline began to pile up before Alcaraz secured his eventual triumph.
Carlos Alcaraz will face Casper Ruud in the US Open final for the No.1 spot.
Alcaraz will meet No.7 Casper Ruud for the championship on Sunday.
Ruud earlier capitalized on his powerful forehand to reach his second Grand Slam final this year by beating Russia's Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 5-7 6-2.
The first Norwegian to reach the final at Flushing Meadows won an extraordinary 55-shot rally to close out the first-set tie-break on his way to victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He proved equally effective on the hard courts of New York, winning 14 points in a row to build a 5-1 lead in a nearly perfect.
Ruud will jump from world No. 7 to No. 1 if he lifts the trophy on Sunday.
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