Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz battled past Frances Tiafoe in five sets to reach the US Open final. The 19-year-old will play Casper Ruud for the title and World No.

Tiafoe quickly went to the other side of the court and the pair shared a warm embrace. The longer the match went on, it was clear Tiafoe was fighting to reach a state of neutrality in the action. The key came at 1-1 in the second set, when Tiafoe earned a break point to go up a set and a break. But Alcaraz never faltered under the pressure inside a raucuous [Arthur Ashe](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview) Stadium, improving to 8-1 in five-setters, including 5-0 at Flushing Meadows. So despite Tiafoe playing a courageous fourth-set tie-break, the Spaniard was physically ready for the decider. He played the final of a Grand Slam in Late in the fourth set, Tiafoe could be heard saying "I'm putting my heart on the f****** line" twice in a row. "Too good Carlos, I am happy I got to share the big stage with you." First time in the final of a Grand Slam. [Casper Ruud](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview) for the title. "To be honest in the semi-final of a Grand Slam you have to give everything... [Frances Tiafoe](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 after four hours and 19 minutes to reach his first major championship match.

Carlos Alcaraz overcame the gutsy Frances Tiafoe in five brutal sets to reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open after a classic clash.

Sunday's clash will be all the more significant given that, in addition to a Grand Slam title being at stake, the world No. He was able to consolidate his break and close out the set to get back on level terms. US Open [‘I'll have to handle the nerves’ – Alcaraz on first Grand Slam final after win over ‘amazing’ Tiafoe](https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/us-open/2022/us-open-2022-i-ll-have-to-handle-the-nerves-carlos-alcaraz-on-first-grand-slam-final-and-world-no.-1_sto9136932/story.shtml) [‘I thought it might not come again’ – Ruud on reaching US Open final](https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/us-open/2022/us-open-2022-i-thought-it-might-not-come-again-casper-ruud-on-reaching-second-grand-slam-final_sto9136645/story.shtml) ['He is awesome' - McEnroe hails Ruud reaching final and 'did not see this coming'](https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/us-open/2022/he-is-awesome-john-mcenroe-hails-casper-ruud-reaching-us-open-final-and-did-not-see-this-coming_sto9136644/story.shtml) He quickly seized a break of serve in the third set to further stamp his authority on the match and a stunned Tiafoe could only muster a single game. Carlos Alcaraz overcame the gutsy Frances Tiafoe in five brutal sets, 6-7(6) 6-3 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3, to reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open after a classic clash.

The Spanish teenager reached his first grand slam final after overcoming his American opponent in an absorbing match under the lights in New York.

After chasing down a match point at 4-5 to claw back from the brink, the former First Lady sprung from her courtside seat and pumped her fist as a wall of sound cascaded down from the mezzanine. By then, they should have known better as the relentless Tiafoe broke back in the fourth game, pumping his fist as he sprinted to his chair. Should he prevail in Sunday’s final, Alcaraz will become the youngest ever player to reach No 1 in the ATP’s world rankings. Having split the opening two sets, both players emerged from off-court bathroom breaks to a best-of-three match for a place in the final, but Tiafoe’s first extended mental letdown of the night cost him dearly as he was immediately broken at love to open the third. Already the youngest men’s grand slam semi-finalist since Nadal’s breakthrough run through the 2005 French Open, Alcaraz becomes only the second teenager to reach a US Open men’s final in the professional era after Pete Sampras in 1990. “I thought it is a new match in the fifth set. After a trade of holds to open the second, Alcaraz faced another gut-check moment serving at 30-all, when Tiafoe capped another hyperkinetic rally with a deft backhand volley winner for break point. Tiafoe saved it with a blistering 136mph service winner, but the Spaniard seized on his second chance moments later when Tiafoe overcooked a forehand from the baseline. He broke Alcaraz for the first time all night in the following game to get back on serve, fell behind a break again in the very next game, then broke once more to send the crowd into deafening roars. For more than four hours Alcaraz and Tiafoe traded hellfire in physical baseline rallies and tested their ample movement to the limit in dazzling cat-and-mouse exchanges that covered every inch of the court. Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to wriggle, only to escape from a 4-5, 30-40 bind by showing a glimpse of the tactical intelligence and sophisticated point construction he’s relied on throughout his breakthrough season. I came here to win the US Open and I feel I let everybody down.

The 19-year-old from Spain ended the talented American's deep run in New York in five sets and will play Casper Ruud of Norway for the men's singles title.

He did as he was told, pushing the set to a tiebreaker, where he cranked up his serve and finally got Alcaraz to make enough mistakes to force the deciding set. And he did, pulling even at 3-3 and saving a match point at 4-5 by chasing down a drop shot that had the former first lady up out of her seat and urging him on. Alcaraz beat him every which way, pushing him deep into the backcourt, then drawing him up to the net and passing him, as he seized control of a match that seemed like it would be over very soon. Tiafoe would have chances to get back into the set twice more, but Alcaraz shut the door both times, the first by mixing slices and topspin through a long rally, the second with a serve Tiafoe could not get back. A twist of his hips, a flick of his wrist, and the ball is sailing past. Tiafoe stayed even with Alcaraz through the first five games of the second set, but trouble arrived when he was serving at 2-3. Tiafoe had just won his 16th set out of 17 he had played in the tournament. Tiafoe got his first chance to win the set while leading 6-5, with Alcaraz serving, and then earned four more chances when the set moved to a tiebreaker. Tiafoe and Alcaraz hugged in the middle of the court, and when they separated, Alcaraz pointed at Tiafoe, urging the fans to let him hear them one last time. Tiafoe started for his chair, then paused to look at the fans and soak in the love they were giving him. Then in the last set he was up once more, and then all even again. Already he was the first American man to make the semifinals of this tournament in 16 years.

The second week has been all about Frances Tiafoe arriving. Tiafoe, the 24-year-old son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who grew up in Hyattsville, Md., stirred ...

In the first set tiebreaker, Tiafoe raced out a to a 6-3 lead and Alcaraz worked his way back to 6-all, only to double-fault away the set on set point. Open — and to reach a major final — at Wimbledon in 2009. In the tiebreak, Tiafoe cranked a 133-mph service winner to go ahead 6-5. He held to close out the second set and then raced through the third set, handing Tiafoe three breaks of serve. I will have to handle the nerves of being in a final of a Grand Slam but obviously I’m really really happy. And he did so despite Tiafoe winning two tiebreaks, improving to a record 8-0 in breakers in one U.S. “First time in a final of a Grand Slam, I can see the No. He once again calmly and coolly went five sets for the third straight match — joining Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi among men to win three straight five-setters to reach a final. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway](https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2022/09/09/norways-casper-ruud-reaches-us-open-final-can-earn-world-no-1-ranking/), in Sunday’s final with each playing for his first major title and the No. He played the final of a Grand Slam in Roland Garros but this is my first time. Michelle Obama, Larry Fitzgerald and Jon Bon Jovi were among the stars contributing to an electric atmosphere in Ashe, where courtside seats were going for $6,000 and nosebleeds for $300. Open semifinals, and the first black man since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe engaged in a high-level, high-energy spectacle of a back-and-forth semifinal — no point over when it seemed to be, ...

He regrouped and broke to go up in the second set, and a pivotal juncture arrived with Alcaraz serving at 5-3 but facing a break point. As on that forehand, Alcaraz often rips the ball with abandon — and, somehow, with precision, too, aiming for the lines and finding them. One arrived in the second set's third game, when Alcaraz saved a break point and went on to hold. After one, Tiafoe went over for a little light-hearted exchange with Alcaraz's coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion who briefly was No. Either Ruud, the runner-up to Nadal at the French Open in June, will make a six-place jump that represents the biggest move ever to No. "Towards the end," Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway, said about the longest point of this U.S. A smiling Tiafoe jokingly climbed over the net to Alcaraz's side, as if to go shake hands at match's end. I just wish I was the one who got the 'W.'" on Thursday, the latest finish in tournament history — and was better when he needed to be, taking four of the last five games. Afterward, Alcaraz spoke first in English, then in Spanish, telling his supporters that they helped him fight for "every point, every ball." No surprise, given he was the first American man in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 16 years. Ultimately, enough of the winners went Alcaraz's way, and too many of the mistakes came from Tiafoe's racket.