And out of four, one remained. Carlos Alcaraz became the only Spaniard who got through to the quarterfinals, of the four who chose to do so (Carreño, Davidovich and Nadal), by defeating in a very even match the last former US Open champion left standing, Croatian Marin Cilic. In a very even match, with isolated moments of genius on both sides, but somewhat lacking in rhythm, the youngster from El Palmar won 6/4, 3/6, 6/4, 4/6 and 6/3, in almost four hours of play. It is the second time in a row that Alcaraz has reached the quarterfinals in New York and the youngest tennis player to do so in the Open era.
The Murcian began with great enthusiasm, wanting to show the public why he is number four in the world. After losing his first serve and recovering it in the next game, Alcaraz wanted to put on a show and went all out. Risking, bravely (how do you lob a six-foot-tall opponent?) he took the lead in game five and ended up taking the first set and taking a break lead in the second. But Cilic did not let up and broke two consecutive services and scored the second set.
The balance was maintained in the third set. Both players showed their desire to fight. Marin leaned on his serve and Alcaraz, who ended up on the ground several times, ran for everything. Even from the ground, he was still smiling. On his winning shots, he cheered on the crowd, who even stood up more than once to applaud some great play. Carlos ended up breaking in the tenth game to go two sets to one.
The fourth set was not positive for El Palmar. He defended three break points against him well, but wasted seven chances to break his rival. "Come on, you're convinced of your shots," his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, encouraged him from his box, when Carlitos' last two break points on the Croatian's serve vanished. Having overcome the danger, Cilic grew there and, willing to take the match to the fifth set, he broke in the ninth game. Alcaraz wasted two more break points (0 of 7 in the fourth set) and gave Cilic wings to face the final set.
The Croatian came with a lot of experience in these situations at the US Open: of the 11 five-set matches he had won 9. This was also his 43rd Grand Slam fifth set. Despite his 33 years and the almost three and a half hours they had been playing, Cilic kept getting to everything, even Alcaraz's left characteristics.
The equality of the match was also transferred to the last round, in which the opponents exchanged breaks in the initial games. Finally, the Murcian took off, winning the fourth game on his rival's serve and keeping the distance until the final victory.
"It was difficult at the beginning of the fifth set with a break down," explained Alcaraz. “The crowd has been amazing. In the fourth set I had a lot of chances and it was hard to lose it, mentally. So the support from the stands gave me more energy.”
On Wednesday Carlos Alcaraz will face Jannick Sinner in the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Italian defeated Belarusian Ilya Ivashka also in five sets.
The eleventh-seeded has an advantage in the head-to-head with the Murcian, whom he has defeated twice this year, on the land of Umag and on the grass of Wimbledon, with only one victory for Alcaraz at the Paris Masters 1000 in 2021, on a hard court, like the one in New York. “He is a great player. Very hard”, acknowledged the number 4 in the world. “I lost to him twice in two months. I will have to be prepared for a battle.”
