US Open tennis results: Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz seals latest-ever US Open victory as five-hour epic concludes at 3am

Carlos Alcaraz has won an intriguing youngsters’ battle against Jannik Sinner to reach his maiden Grand Slam semi-final in the final match of the US Open.

Spanish teenager Alcaraz finally clinched a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-0) 5-7 6-3 victory at 2:50 a.m. after five hours and 15 minutes of full-throttle tennis a clash with Frances Tiafoe on Friday.

Remarkably, three previous games had ended at 2:26am, while this was the second consecutive time Alcaraz had played past 2am after their fourth-round win over Marin Cilic ended at 2:23am.

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“Honestly,” said Alcaraz, who saved a match point in the fourth set, “I still don’t know how I did it.”

Tiafoe followed his win over Rafael Nadal earlier by beating Andrey Rublev to become the first American to reach the US Open semifinals in 16 years.

After his much more mundane 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-0) 6-4 win over Rublev, Tiafoe was pretty prescient when asked about Alcaraz and Sinner.

“I just hope they play a marathon match, a super long match,” Tiafoe said with a smile, “and they get really tired on Friday.”

No home player has reached the last four in men’s singles since Andy Roddick in 2006 and Tiafoe is looking to become the first home winner since Roddick won his only Slam title in 2003.

The 24-year-old scored the win of his life against Nadal in the fourth round but it was just as impressive, with Tiafoe keeping his composure while Russia’s Rublev grew increasingly frustrated and recorded a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7 -0) 6-4 win.

“This is wild, this is crazy,” Tiafoe said.

“Biggest win of my life to come out and hit another big win. It’s tremendous growth. It’s hard to turn a page, but I did it and now I’m in the semifinals.

“I feel so at home in places like this. I want to play, I want to do my best. Let’s enjoy this, but we have two other boys.”

American tennis was desperate for its next male Grand Slam singles champion, and Tiafoe’s victory over Nadal was hailed as the biggest result for the home nation on the men’s side in New York since James Blake defeated the Spaniard in 2005.

He didn’t disappoint against Rublev either, starting 18 aces and 46 winners.

Wearing a bracelet that read, “Why not me?” Tiafoe sealed it with an ace, becoming the first black American to reach a US Open semifinal since Arthur Ashe 50 years ago and at the stadium named after the late former champion played.

Tiafoe’s exuberant personality and embodiment of the American Dream have made him a fan favorite, and over those two weeks he’s seen him strike a successful balance between aggression and consistency.

The son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, Tiafoe started playing at a tennis center in Maryland where his father was a janitor and where he used to sleep on the floor.

His family could not afford tuition or equipment but he played whenever he could and was taken under the wing of a coach who saw his potential and put him on the path to professional football.