“Towards the end,” Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway, said about the longest point of this U.S. Ruud won that lengthy rally and built an early lead and route to beating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. When Alcaraz went up 2-0 in the fourth, spectators regaled him with a soccer-style song of “Olé, Olé, Olé! Carlos!”Īfterward, Alcaraz spoke first in English, then in Spanish, telling his supporters that they helped him fight for “every point, every ball” and tapped his chest as he said this was “for my family, for my team, for me, for all of you.”ĭuring the day’s first semifinal, which featured a 55-shot point to end the first set, folks called out the winner’s last name - “Ruuuuud!” - and it sounded as if they were booing, rather than saluting. Open men’s finalist from any country since Pete Sampras won the trophy at 19 in 1990. This one really, really hurts.”Īlcaraz, who’s from Spain, is popular around the world, widely recognized as a future star of the sport, and he is now the youngest U.S. “I feel I let you goys down,” Tiafoe said during an unusual chance for a match’s loser to address the crowd in an on-court interview. No surprise, given he was the first American man in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 16 years. Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Maryland who eliminated 22-time Grand Slam champ Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, played to a sellout crowd of more than 23,000 that included former first lady Michelle Obama, often asking for - and receiving - more noise. “I gave everything I had.”Īlcaraz and Tiafoe were both making their major semifinal debuts and offered an exceptionally entertaining performance for a little more than a set, and a little more than an hour, at the start, then again for the latter portion of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth. “Too good from Carlos tonight,” Tiafoe said.

Frances tiafoe vs karen khachanov