Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz played the second-longest match in US Open history at five hours and 15 minutes in a legendary five-set duel that they eventually won 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-7 ( 0). -7), 7-5 and 6-3 by Alcaraz early Thursday night at Arthur-Ashe Stadium.

The two rising stars wrote a historic first chapter in a rivalry that will no doubt grow in years to come, both in spectacular shots and upsets.

“I don’t know how I did it, the level of play, the level of the match was…” confided a speechless Alcaraz after a long and respectful embrace with Sinner.

On a match point in the fourth set, “I believed in myself. There is always hope as long as we have not lost. I believed in my game,” he added.

Alcaraz looked well in control after a convincing first set and with the momentum late in the second set. The 19-year-old served four set points on his opponent’s serve at 6-5, but the Italian saved his skin each time to finish with the set in the tiebreak at 9-7, not seeing Alcaraz offer a fifth chance to complete a few moves earlier.

An almost identical scenario played out in the third set when Alcaraz served for the set at 6-5. Once again, the 21-year-old Italian worked his way out of trouble by crushing his opponent before flying over the tiebreak to an easy 7-0, putting all the pressure on the Spaniard.

Sinner wasted no time in the next set to gain the upper hand with a break of service in the first game. However, Alcaraz regained value on his third serve out of 13m world racket breaking himself to make it 3-3. Sinner was then quick to erase Alcaraz’s comeback by winning the next four points to regain his advantage. The Italian looked headed for a semi-final ticket, but Alcaraz turned the tide with his back against the wall. The Spanish sensation refused to relinquish match point at 5-4 to break his opponent’s serve to bring it all level at 5-5 before converting his serve again to force the final set.

Sinner was the first to break in the fifth set to take a 3-2 advantage, but unsurprisingly at this stage of a Hollywood-style match, Alcaraz registered his ninth break of the match to level at 3-3 in the next game . Alcaraz gave himself a golden opportunity to close out the match on serve, breaking his opponent for the tenth time in the game. This time it was good for whoever could become the youngest player in history to hold the world No.1 if he wins the tournament. Alcaraz finished this legendary match with an ace in front of an excited crowd that lived through the 313 minutes of this epic duel.

Incredibly, both players only had one chance to complete the encounter respectively. Sinner only had his chance for match point in the fourth set as Alcaraz converted his only chance in the final set. Alcaraz finished the match with 10 service breaks in 25 chances compared to seven breaks in 16 attempts for Sinner.

This is the first time that Alcaraz has reached the semifinals of Grand Slam tournaments. Sinner was also looking to reach a first semifinal in such a tournament, having previously reached the quarterfinals in each of the major tournaments. Alcaraz will face local favorite Francis Tiafoe.

“France won Rafa and Rublev, he is very confident, it will be very difficult. But I want to take advantage of this moment, my first qualification in the half”, commented the Spaniard.

The longest duel in US Open history lasted five hours and 26 minutes between Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang in the semifinals in 1992. Neither match ended later than 2:26 am. in Flushing Meadows. Sinner-Alcaraz ended New York’s longest fight in history at 2:50.