WHAT HAPPENED: The unexpected, or perhaps even the unthinkable, happened in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.
Playing the match of his young life, as well as the match of the tournament and one of those thrilling epics that fans will talk about for years to come, the 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, ranked 55th in the world, upset No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6 to advance to the fourth round of the 2021 US Open.
It may very well turn out to be one of those career-defining matches for the young Spaniard.
Alcaraz, playing in just the second five-setter of his career, rebounded from a seemingly insurmountable 2-5 deficit in the third set, down two breaks of serve, to pull even with and outlast the Greek No. 3 in the tiebreak. The Spanish teen then got blown off the court in the fourth set, yet found the resolve and stamina to dig deep in the fifth, go toe-to-toe with Tsitsipas, and finally dominate the final-set tiebreak, capturing the biggest win of his life with a dramatic forehand winner.
“I just don't know what happened out there in the court. I can't believe that I beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in an epic match,” said Alcaraz. “For me it's a dream come true.”
“I didn't give up. I believed in me in the last point,” continued Alcaraz.
Only a couple of years ago that Tsitsipas was the young phenom blazing his way to the upper echelon of the men’s game.
Now 23, the Greek—a finalist at this year’s French Open, where he was just one set away from claiming the crown against Novak Djokovic—is No. 3 in the world and comparatively a grizzled veteran.
Alcaraz took to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday looking like he was in a hurry to grab the baton. If there was any question whether the hype surrounding the teen was real, Alcaraz quickly extinguished it with an electrifying start, racing to a 4-0 lead. Playing spectacular, attacking tennis, the Spaniard crushed seven winners and had zero unforced errors in the first four games alone.
In an opening set of pure magic from the young man from Murcia, Alcaraz played muscular, suffocating tennis and broke Tsitsipas for a third time to take a 6-3 lead.
A thoroughly outplayed Tsitsipas looked shell-shocked, as though he, not the youngster, were intimidated by the big stage.
In the second set, Alcaraz broke serve immediately and went up 3-0. Tsitsipas finally got his teeth into the match, breaking to get back on serve at 2-3. The Greek altered his return position, retreating deeper behind the baseline to gain some time and take bigger cuts on the ball.
In a crucial, 10-minute seventh game on Alcaraz’s serve, Tsitsipas earned three break points as he began timing the ball better, and a couple of errors creeped into the teen’s game. The Greek broke on his third attempt and with a fist pump and a shout signaled that he was making his move. Tsitsipas won five straight games. Serving at 5-4, Tsitsipas rebounded from 0-40 and leveled the match at one set apiece.
Watch: Alcaraz vs. Tsitsipas, Round 3 Highlights
Tsitsipas held a 5-2, double-break lead in the third set, and it looked as though the Greek was in firm control of the match. Tsitsipas twice served for the set. But the young Spaniard demonstrated incredible resolve, competing tough and snatched back both of those service breaks. In the tiebreak, he reverted to the stunning play he’d sported out of the gate and rolled to a 7-1 win over a startled Tsitsipas. The New York crowd erupted with a “Let’s go, Carlos!” chant.
The fourth set saw Alcaraz suffer an understandable, perhaps inevitable, letdown. The Greek performed a miraculous rebound of his own and blanked the teen, 6-0, to take the match to a deciding fifth set.
Alcaraz hung tough in the fifth set, matching Tsitsipas stroke for stroke. In the final-set tiebreak, Alcaraz seized the minibreak by pouncing on a Tsitsipas serve and smacking a forehand winner down the line. After missing a topspin lob by mere millimeters on match point, Alcatraz boldly struck an inside-out forehand winner to take the match in four hours and seven minutes and move on to yet another first in the Spaniard’s young career: the Round of 16 at the US Open.
“It's one of these matches and one of these feelings where, you know, you pick up at some point of the match, you feel like you're in control, and it doesn't really go your way at the end,” said Tsitsipas.
“It was supposed to be my match,” said the Greek No. 3. “Today was a match that I shouldn't have lost.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Alcaraz became the youngest man to make the fourth round at a Slam since 1989 and the youngest player to defeat a Top 3 player at the US Open. The Spaniard was previously 0-3 versus Top 10 opponents, failing to win a set.
Here’s what we learned about the Spanish teenager. In addition to possessing raw, easy power on the forehand, he has deft touch and disguise on drop shots; excellent volleys; great court sense and positioning; a compact two-handed backhand that is a real weapon; and few weaknesses. He is extremely well-coached and exhibits remarkable maturity for an 18-year-old. Perhaps most importantly, we learned that this young man really competes. Maybe that’s a lesson he’s taken from the example of compatriot Rafael Nadal.
Tsitsipas has never advanced to the fourth round at the US Open, the only major where he has failed to do so. The Greek came into the third round with the most match wins on tour, 50.
MATCH POINT: A year ago, a 17-year-old Alcaraz was outside the Top 300. In 2021, the Spaniard won his first title at Umag (becoming the youngest winner since 2008), won in his debuts at all four majors, and will climb at least into the Top 50. The teen hardly looks content to stop there.
Watch: Press Conference, Carlos Alcaraz, R3
