Two years ago, Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe toiled in a 4-hour, 19-minute semifinal at the US Open, won by Alcaraz 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 on his way to his first Grand Slam title.
The reprise came Friday at Wimbledon, much earlier in the third round, but with the same result: The third-seeded Alcaraz, last year's Wimbledon winner, outlasted Tiafoe this time from two sets to one behind, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, to return to the second week at the All England Club. Alcaraz has now won nine straight five-set matches, which includes two in a row in the semis and final of Roland Garros this spring, and is 12-1 in five-set matches in his career.
Before the two young stars took the court against each other for a third time overall (Tiafoe won their first meeting on clay in Barcelona in the spring of 2022), Tiafoe—who came into Wimbledon having injured his knee in the warm-up event at the Queen's Club—renewed the good-natured rivalry between the two by saying he was "coming for" the defending champion. He had reason to feel good: Despite the physical concerns, Tiafoe earned his first win from two-sets down in the opening round against Italian Matteo Arnaldi, before routining former world No. 12 Borna Coric. Seeded No. 29 at the Championships, Tiafoe hadn't won back-to-back matches since reaching the clay-court Houston final in April, and had been candid with reporters about his struggles, both mental and physical, over the last six-plus months.
But over 3 hours and 51 minutes on Centre Court, Tiafoe showed the kind of form that had him in the world's Top 10 at this time last year. And while there was little to separate the two players over the match's first three hours, Alcaraz showed why he's the toughest man to be in tennis when a Grand Slam match goes the distance.
"It's always a big challenge playing against Frances," Alcaraz said afterwards. "As I've said many, many times, he's a really talented player, really tough to face, and he showed once again that he deserves to be in the top, to fight for big things. It was really difficult for me to adapt my game, find solutions and try to put him in trouble, but I am really happy to do it at the end of the match.
"There were a lot of difficult moments in the fourth set ... and I all was thinking was, 'Fight one more ball,' thinking about the next point. In the tiebreak, I always tell myself I have to go for it. If I lose it, I lose it, but I have to feel like I went for it all the time and it is good for myself to get through once again."
Alarm bells raised for Alcaraz, who ultimately extended his Wimbledon winning streak to 10, early, as he failed to capitalize on an early break of Tiafoe's serve before losing the first set. A key momentum swing in his favor, though, was what ultimately decided the match: He won the first five points of the fourth-set tiebreak en route to pushing the match to a fifth, and cruised with two more service breaks down the stretch as Tiafoe faded.
"I was a little tentative in the breaker. I wish I was swinging out on my shots a little more from the ground on the breaker. I thought I let him dictate a little too much," the American told reporters later, while saying it was nonetheless "huge" for him to be challenging one of the world's best on a big stage again in a match of intensity and high quality.
"Me coming after one of the best players in the world and putting my game on display at the highest level, a court I've never played on. So that definitely sparked a huge light under me," he said.
"I had so much fun playing out there. I felt so comfortable. I really thought the match was there for me to take. I just take a lot of confidence from that. It's something I needed.
"I haven't been happy playing. It's been really tough, so to be able to do that and compete like that at the highest level, that's going to help me a lot for the summer swing and obviously going to the Open where I want to perform my best as well."
