Carlos Alcaraz has spent much of his short professional career trying to play down comparisons with Rafael Nadal. If the 19-year-old Spaniard wins the US Open on Sunday to become the youngest grand slam champion since Nadal claimed his first title at Roland Garros in 2005, he may just have to give up the unequal struggle.
Then again, giving up is not in Alcaraz’s nature, a point he underlined with another signature late-night surge at the US Open, where he came from behind to outlast Frances Tiafoe in five dramatic sets, dashing American hopes of a first homegrown champion since Andy Roddick in 2003 with a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 win.
Less than 48 hours after wrapping up a sensational quarter-final victory over Italy’s Jannik Sinner at 2.50am, the latest finish in the tournament’s history, Alcaraz was taken the distance for a third match in succession in Arthur Ashe Stadium, once again boarding the physical, mental and emotional rollercoaster before finally quelling Tiafoe’s inspired and courageous challenge a little before midnight.
His reward is a place in the first major final of his career on Sunday against Casper Ruud, the Norwegian fifth seed, with the world No 1 ranking on the line for both men. Alcaraz’s luminous talent has long since marked him out as his own man, but if ever there was a time to make like Nadal, it is now.
“No matter what I’m fighting for or what I am, I [am] just going for it,” said Alcaraz, who will become the youngest men’s No 1 in history if he beats Ruud, who overcame Karen Khachanov in the first semi-final.
“It’s close, but at the same time is so far away, you know? It’s a final of a grand slam, fighting for the No 1 in the world, something that I dreamed since I was a kid. I mean, what I have to say? Is final of a grand slam. Right now, I’m going to enjoy this moment.”
It was a night of high emotion, one on which both players dazzled with the ferocity and skill of their shot-making, the speed and elasticity of their movement, and the unflinching intensity of their commitment. The only pity of it was that someone had to come second, and while Alcaraz was left reflecting on the huge stride he had taken towards the fruition of his boyhood dreams – “I thought about a young man, like 10 years ago, dreaming for this moment right now,” he said afterwards – Tiafoe was left devastated by his inability to deliver the title to a country still reeling from the retirement of Serena Williams.
“I gave everything I had, too good from Carlos tonight,” Tiafoe told Patrick McEnroe at courtside as he fought back tears. “I gave everything I had for the last two weeks. Honestly, I came here wanting to win the US Open, I feel like I let you guys down. This one hurts, this one really, really hurts.
“Too good from Carlos, man, you’re going to win a lot of grand slams, you’re a hell of a player, a hell of a person. I’m happy I got to share the court on such a big stage with you. I’m gonna come back and I will win this thing one day.”
Tiafoe, who was cheered on by Michelle Obama, will climb to a career-high ranking of 19th next week, but his elevation in the hearts and minds of the US public is inestimable. He has enraptured New York this past fortnight, defeating Nadal, seeing off another top-10 player in Andrey Rublev to reach his first major semi-final, and winning legions of new fans previously unfamiliar with the tale of a kid whose parents arrived in the country after fleeing the civil war in Sierra Leone, and learned to play tennis only because his father, Constant, took a job as a maintenance worker at a tennis club in Maryland that he had helped to build.
When Tiafoe won an absorbing first set on a tiebreak, it looked as though another extraordinary chapter might be added to that story. There had been little to choose between the pair up to then, with the American fending off the second of two early break points with an intelligent variation of pace on serve, and Alcaraz finding a big delivery down the centre to deny his opponent a set point at 5-6.
The Spaniard would fend off another three set points in the ensuing tiebreak before he finally double-faulted to concede the opener. Having fallen behind, however, he set about seizing control of the contest, breaking in the sixth game of set two after a failed body-line attempt by Tiafoe, and dominating the third so completely that Tiafoe salvaged just nine points.
When Alcaraz moved a break ahead in the fourth, the contest looked over in all but name. Instead, Tiafoe, roared on by a crowd not yet ready to call it a night, reignited his hopes, levelling at 3-3, chasing down a drop shot to save a match point at 5-4, and then winning his eighth tiebreak of the tournament to force a decider.
Surely now Alcaraz’s sinew-stretching endeavours would finally catch up with him? Not so. His spirit is boundless, his willingness to accept he is beaten non-existent. Alcaraz may resist comparisons with Nadal, the last man to be crowned a grand slam champion at the age of 19, but in the face of such extraordinary resilience they are inevitable.
If they are still being made come Sunday night, he will not be complaining.