Carlos Alcaraz reaches first grand slam semifinal after marathon, late-night finish against Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz started his season in incredible fashion, reaching his first grand slam semifinal. He was well in control of the match until there were two tie-breakers, one in his favor and one in Sinner’s favor, at which point Carlos Alcaraz was out of the tournament, and Sinner has one of the best records in the majors.
And, well, Carlos is used to losing, even at the majors, and he’s done remarkably well to pull himself up from the brink to get back on the scene.
A month ago, he was hitting.300 and waiting for his first grand slam semifinal. And Carlos wasn’t even considered at a major yet before September. This is Carlos Alcaraz in his first major, his first match (and really, his first set) at the majors, and the first time in his career he’s reached the semifinals of a slam.
Carlos is now one win away from the grand slam final, a match he has been preparing for all season.
The match itself was one of the greatest in the short history of tennis. The biggest match of Carlos’ career, and the biggest match in the history of Australian Open. The crowd had been electric through the first set, with every man in the crowd screaming, “Go! Go! Go!”
It was a very long set, and Carlos is an excellent player, but the match was not over. He led, 2-0, in the set with two double faults, one off the back line and one on the baseline on the serve-return that followed; he seemed like he wasn’t taking the pressure of serving out there, waiting for his serve to come back at him. He’s an excellent tennis player, who has the perfect combination of strength and technique, and can serve with power and control with precision. But he couldn’t find any control today, and neither could Sinner.
After the tie-break, Sinner had two match points at two-all, and Carlos went after his first serve. He hit an incredible winner right on the line, a first serve into the net, and the crowd was going wild.
The second-set point was a forehand winner down