By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Second seed Carlos Alcaraz took down 24-times major winner Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2 with clinical precision to reach the U.S. Open final on Friday, prevailing in a blockbuster showdown that packed the house at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The match was billed as the hottest ticket in New York and lived up to the hype, with a scoreline that belied its intensity, as the 2022 champion Alcaraz soaked in deafening cheers on match point.
Djokovic had won their two most recent meetings, including in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, but the 38-year-old showed wear and tear against the Spaniard 16 years his junior.
“Once again in the final of the U.S. Open, it feels amazing and it means a lot to me,” said Alcaraz, who hit twice as many winners as his opponent. “I had to play a really physical match.”
Djokovic dropped his serve when he sent a shot past the baseline in the opening game and was unable to set up a single break point chance in the first set, which Alcaraz closed out with an unreturnable serve.
Urged on by the celebrity-packed stands, the seventh seed got in the fight in the second set, sending over a superb backhand to convert on break point in the second game.
However, Alcaraz put his foot on the gas in the fifth game, setting up a break point after surviving a 16-shot rally with a forehand winner and converting on the chance from the baseline.
Down 0-2 in the tiebreak, Djokovic outlasted his opponent in a cheeky exchange at the net and paused to take in the roars of the crowd, a reminder of the Serb’s perennial appeal two decades after his Flushing Meadows main draw debut.
But the Spaniard kept his nerve, closing out the tiebreak with two more unreturnable serves before Djokovic gifted him a break point with a double fault in the fourth game of the third set.
The writing was on the wall for Djokovic as he hit another double fault on the penultimate point of the match and he leaned on the net as he congratulated his opponent with a grin after handing over the contest with a wide forehand.
Alcaraz will next play either defending champion Jannik Sinner or Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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