Carlos Alcaraz tops Jannik Sinner in latest US Open finish ever

NEW YORK: This was a match that would not end. Should not end, one might say. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, two of the brightest young stars of men’s tennis, traded shots of the highest quality and countless momentum swings across five sterling sets for 5 hours, 15 minutes until Alcaraz finally won the last point at 2:50a.m.

on Thursday, the latest finish in US Open history. It was “only” a quarterfinal, no trophy at stake, yet was as taut a thriller as this year’s tournament has produced or, likely, will, a tour de force of big cuts on the full sprint and plenty of guts, concluding as a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3 victory for the No. 3-seeded Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain.

“Honestly,” said Alcaraz, who saved a match point in the fourth set, “I still don’t know how I did it.” He also used words such as “unbelievable” and “amazing.” No hyperbole there. “This one will hurt for quite a while,” said No. 11 Sinner, a 21-year-old from Italy.

“But tomorrow, I will wake up — or today, I will wake up — trying to somehow (take away) only the positives.” Alcaraz reached his first Grand Slam semifinal and is the youngest man to get that far at the US Open since Pete Sampras won the title at 19 in 1990. Alcaraz has a chance to move up to No. 1 in the rankings next week, and will face No.

22 Frances Tiafoe of the United States on Friday. The other men’s semifinal that day is No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway vs.

No. 27 Karen Khachanov of Russia. This match began Wednesday evening at about 9:45 p.m.