The tennis world might be looking forward to a transition from the triumvirate of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and with none of the three featuring in the semi-final of US Open 2022, it seems young guns are finally having a chance to announce their arrival.
The epic quarter-final match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is already being discussed in detail in the tennis circles post his win in a marathon five-setter, Alcaraz has made a massive statement on the reigning aces in Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
The Spaniard beat Sinner 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a game that went over five hours, the second longest Slam clash in New York, and ended at 2.50 am on Thursday (8). The win made the 19-year-old Alcaraz the youngest semi-finalist at a major since Nadal in the 2005 French Open and the youngest ever at the US Open since Pete Sampras in 1990.
Alcaraz will take in the semifinal American Frances Tiafoe who tamed Nadal, who was deemed as the favourite to win the tournament in the absence of Federer, who is out with injury, and Djokovic, who did not participate because of his no-vaccination status.
After defeating Sinner, Alcaraz hinted at a change of guard in the sport saying, "As long as Rafa, Djokovic, Federer are there, they will be the best and the rivalry they have between them will always come first. But today Jannik and I have shown that we are the present and that we also have a long career ahead of us. We are going to play many times together."
"I would say it was the best match I've played in my entire career," Alcaraz said, adding, "At five hours and 15 minutes, from the first ball to the last, there was immense quality from both Jannik and me. Jannik and I will remember this for the rest of our lives."
The teen warned that the clock may be ticking on the dominance of the Big Three who have 63 majors between them.
Another quarter-final game between Russia's Karen Khachanov and Nick Kyrgios also turned out to be another marathon one with the former winning 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
[With AFP inputs]
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