Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his bid for a first Grand Slam title after coming through a remarkable US Open quarter-final against fellow rising star Jannik Sinner on Wednesday night.
Alcaraz, seeded third and one of the pre-tournament favourites in New York, demonstrated precisely why he is regarded as the future of men's tennis with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italian 11th seed Sinner.
It earned the 19-year-old Spaniard a measure of revenge after losing to Sinner, 21, in their previous two encounters this year, but he was on the brink of a third successive defeat and needed to save match point in the fourth set.
After another enthralling encounter between these two talented youngsters, an exciting on-court rivalry is developing, which suggests men's tennis should be in safe hands in the post-Big Three era when Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer ultimately hang up their racquets. "Honestly, I still don't know I did it," said Alcaraz, who will face Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals after the American enjoyed a comparative breeze in his straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev. "It was a high quality and unbelievable match.