Carlos Alcaraz stops Frances Tiafoe’s US Open run for 1st Grand Slam final
Carlos Alcaraz surged into his first Grand Slam final and gave himself a chance to become No 1 at age 19 ending Frances Tiafoe’s run at the US Open with a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory on Friday night.
Fifth-set king @carlosalcaraz is into the #USOpen final! pic.twitter.com/CamMVDVJxw
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2022
No 3 Alcaraz moved ahead grabbing nine of 10 games in one stretch and could have ended the semifinal when he held a match point in the fourth set. Tiafoe saved that and forced a fifth set improving to 8-0 in tiebreakers during the tournament.
C 🔥 A 🔥 R 🔥 L 🔥 I 🔥 T 🔥 O 🔥 S
Carlos Alcaraz rallies to reach the #USOpen final in five sets! pic.twitter.com/3mswWvmoUx
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2022
Showing no signs of fatigue from his 5-hour, 15-minute quarterfinal win that ended at 2:50 a.m. on Thursday, Alcaraz was better down the stretch, taking four of the last five games.
Alcaraz will face No 7 Casper Ruud for the championship on Sunday with so much on the line: The winner will become a major champion for the first time and lead the rankings next week.
Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway, claimed a 55-shot point to cap the opening set of his semifinal and wound up beating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
