WHAT HAPPENED: It was the tennis equivalent of Friday Night Lights. Home-country hero Frances Tiafoe versus the Spanish supernova Carlos Alcaraz. Two magnetic personalities and two stratospheric games.
In an electric, packed house, the clash was set to transport one of these budding superstars into the really big time: a major final in New York City. Though it didn’t feature any of the Big Three—Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer—it didn't matter: This was a blockbuster event.
Heck, the former First Lady Michelle Obama was in the front row of the President’s box for all four hours and19 minutes.
In the end, it was the 19-year-old who prevailed, advancing to his first US Open final after a five-set win, 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.
Tiafoe, the son of parents who fled civil war in Sierra Leone, is the quintessential American immigrant story. Raised on the grounds of Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, where his father was the head of maintenance, Tiafoe has long been touted as the next American men’s star. But since gaining notice and winning the Delray Beach title as a 20 year old, the gregarious and not-always disciplined Maryland native took a circuitous route.
Not so for upstart Alcaraz, whose career may seem like it only just started, but has been in one direction only: up and up, all the way to No. 4 in the world. The 19-year-old even has a chance to leave the 2022 US Open as No. 1 in the world, the youngest ever.
To arrive at the semis, Alcaraz had to win back-to-back, wee-hour five-setters, including a quarterfinal win over Jannik Sinner that shattered the record for latest finish (2:50 a.m.) and was the second-longest US Open match in history at five hours and 15 minutes. Tiafoe had upset 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, but his path after that was much simpler. The American sailed through a straight-sets match over No. 9 Andrey Rublev and presumably had his feet kicked up on an ottoman as he looked forward to the evening’s other quarterfinal Wednesday: “I just hope they play a marathon match, super-long match, and they get really tired come Friday.”
Tiafoe got his wish.
It took about a set, but the Spaniard emphatically demonstrated that he was not about to wilt, no matter how many late nights he’d had. Then again: Nor was Tiafoe.
In the first set, Tiafoe couldn’t make a dent on the Alcaraz serve, and the American only managed to connect on a paltry 40 percent of his first serves. Yet the No. 3-seeded Spaniard, who hit the outside of at least a half dozen lines with blistering groundstrokes, couldn’t capitalize on his two break-point chances. In the tiebreak, it took five set points, but Tiafoe equaled Pete Sampras’ 7-0 tiebreak record at a single US Open.
As expected, there was ample evidence of the quicksilver movement, dazzling shotmaking and high-dollar entertainment value for which these two are quickly becoming known. Early in the second set, after a remarkable cat-and-mouse exchange of touch and wicked angles in the forecourt, Tiafoe hopped over the net flashing a huge grin, threatening to high-five his opponent. The American appeared as incredulous as the rest of us at what he and Alcaraz were producing.
Early in the second set, the Spaniard looked a tad less explosive than he has in recent matches, surely a sign of the hours on court taking a toll on him physically. Yet there were no breaks of serve through the first 18 games. Alcaraz finally secured a break on his sixth opportunity, to take his first lead at 4-2. Serving for the set at 5-3, Tiafoe reached break point on a spectacular running backhand down the line, but Alcaraz cranked up the controlled aggression to hold serve and notch the match at one set all.
A rejuvenated Alcaraz reeled off 12 of the first 13 points to begin the crucial third set, breaking Tiafoe’s serve twice to take a commanding 4-0 lead. The No. 22 seed suffered a letdown after surrendering the second set, and there was a sense that the match—in mere moments—was quickly slipping away.
Alcaraz stepped on the gas, accelerating through the set, winning 12 of 14 games. A 6-1 set must have seemed heavenly to the 19-year-old, who surely did not wish to pull yet another all-nighter in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Serving at 4-5 in the fourth, Tiafoe faced a match point but saved it with an exquisite re-drop off an Alcaraz drop shot. The crowd erupted when the American drew even at five-all—the roar was nearly as thunderous as it was during Serena Williams’ swan song in Ashe the first week.
Tiafoe forced a fourth-set tiebreak three hours and 30 minutes in. The Maryland native hadn’t lost one in all six of his matches thus far. Again, he raised his level, serving and hitting bigger than he had at any time since the first-set breaker. Tiafoe grabbed the thrill-per-point tiebreak, his eighth consecutive, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
The Spaniard, though, calmly put the match point he lost, and the surging crowd, behind him. He broke yet again to start the fifth. But Tiafoe had more heroics in him. He evened the score on a leaping backhand return.
Yet the resilient No. 3 seed just refused to blink. Like Tiafoe only moments earlier, Alcaraz summoned reserves he had no right to find. Even Michelle Obama leaping repeatedly to her feet couldn’t will the American to victory.
Even the final game was an Alcaraz highlight reel. He lofted an incredible rolling lob to secure three more match points. He needed all three of them.
On the strength of 59 winners and whatever else this remarkable young man is made of, Alcaraz reached the finish line in his third consecutive five-setter. And with it, his first career major final.
“You have to give everything you have to give,” Alcaraz said after the match. “We have to fight for every last point. It doesn’t matter if we are fighting for five hours, six hours.”
“Frances gave everything on court,” said Alcaraz as he applauded Tiafoe.
The American apologized to the crowd after his loss: “I feel like I let you guys down. This one really hurts. But I’m gonna come back and I will win this thing one day.”
Alcaraz was given the chance to address fans in Spanish. “It’s incredible,” he said. “Three five-set matches, all very long, very demanding. I only have energy thanks to all of you.”
“The final will be for my family, for my team, and for all of you.”
WHAT IT MEANS: In the final, Alcaraz plays Norway’s Casper Ruud, the No. 5 seed, who defeated No. 27 Karen Khachanov in four sets Friday afternoon and advanced to his second career slam final. (He lost to Nadal at this year’s French Open.) Each man will be seeking his first major championship.
Alcaraz was the youngest semifinalist at a major since his compatriot Nadal in 2005 and the youngest US Open semifinalist since Sampras in 1990. Should Alcaraz win the title in Flushing Meadows, he will become the youngest No. 1 in history, displacing 20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.
Tiafoe, 24, was bidding to become the first American Grand Slam finalist since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009 (and the first American US Open finalist since Roddick in 2006). No American man has won the US Open since Roddick in 2003. Tiafoe’s defeat of Nadal in the Round of 16 was the American’s third win over a Top 5 player. But he fell to 3-14 vs. the Top 5 with his loss to Alcaraz.
Tiafoe had won his only previous encounter with the Spaniard, in straight sets on clay in Barcelona in 2021. But that was several months before Alcaraz mastered the learning curve on the pro tour and jump-started his rapid ascent.
MATCH POINT: The men’s semifinals featured four first-timers for the first time since the inaugural US Championships in 1881. For those of you without a calculator handy, that’s 141 years—hardly your run-of-the-mill record!
