NEW YORK: Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set before digging deep in the decider to beat Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller and reach the US Open semi-finals in the early hours of Thursday in New York.
The Spanish teenager collapsed on his back after the match lasting more than five hours concluded at 2.50am local time, beating the previous record for the latest finish of 2.26am set in three matches in 1993, 2012 and 2014.
The 6-3, 6-7(7,) 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 win keeps alive Alcaraz's hopes of winning a maiden Grand Slam title and claiming the world number one ranking.
"Honestly I still don't know how I did it," Alcaraz said in an on-court interview. "The level that I played, the level of the match, the high quality of tennis. It's unbelievable."
Alcaraz put his finger to his ear in the fifth set after he raced across court to catch up with a Sinner drop shot and fired it past the Italian to set up break point, bringing fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium to their feet.
Alcaraz converted on the next point when Sinner's shot hit the net for a 5-3 lead and then fired a serve into Sinner's body on match point to end the five hour, 15 minutes contest.
Alcaraz was a human highlight reel all night, sliding and diving around the court and hitting a sensational behind-the-back circus shot that set up a forehand winner in the second set.
If the match was a preview of the future of men's tennis, the sport is in good hands with the 21-year-old Sinner and 19-year-old Alcaraz engaging in one thrilling exchange after another to the delight of the fans.
Alcaraz plays American Frances Tiafoe on Friday for a spot in Sunday's final.
World number one Iga Swiatek overcame a shaky serving performance to beat Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-3, 7-6(4) on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the US Open for the first time.
The top-seeded French Open champion dropped her racket and pumped her fist after the victory, which guaranteed that she will remain the world's top player when the tournament ends.
"I wasn't expecting this at the beginning of the tournament," Swiatek said in an on-court interview.
"I'm really working hard and trying to keep my expectations low. Today was such a tough match and I think the level was great, so I'm pretty happy that I handled it."
Despite the victory the Pole is still trying to regain her dominant form from earlier in the year when she went on a 37-match winning streak.
The 21-year-old twice failed to serve out the match in the second set and was broken six times by the eighth-seeded Pegula, who saw her own serve broken seven times.
Swiatek will meet Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. She holds a 3-1 record against the powerful Belarusian.
In-form Aryna Sabalenka swatted aside Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 7-6(4) to reach her second straight US Open semi-final.
The Belarusian underestimated her opponent in their two meetings last year, when Pliskova defeated her in the Wimbledon and Montreal semi-finals, but she was in dominant form in New York as she fired down seven aces and never dropped serve.
Nothing went right for 2016 finalist Pliskova during the first set as she racked up 15 unforced errors and five double faults in 28 minutes.
With the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, American Frances Tiafoe rose to the occasion by reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final with a 7-6(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 win over Russian Andrey Rublev.
Not since Andy Roddick in 2003 has a United States man won the title at Flushing Meadows and the pressure was on for the 24-year-old to build on his stunning win over second seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
He did not disappoint, launching 18 aces and 46 winners in a dominant performance, injecting new excitement among the home crowd after 23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams bowed out following what is expected to be her final appearance in the third round. Agencies
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