Novak Djokovic’s efforts to win a 25th grand slam title once again foundered at the hands of his young rivals as Carlos Alcaraz eased through to a second US Open final.
Djokovic was giving away 16 years to Alcaraz and, at 38, he appears good enough still to beat all his challengers except the Spaniard and Jannik Sinner.
Having lost to Sinner in the semi-finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic suffered the same fate here against Alcaraz, the 2022 champion coming through 6-4 7-6 (4) 6-2.
Alcaraz will now expect to face Sinner for the third slam final in a row – unprecedented in the open era – with the Italian due to meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the other semi-final on Friday night.
It was revenge for Alcaraz after defeats to Djokovic in the Olympic gold medal match and the Australian Open quarter-finals, and he said: “It’s a great feeling. Once again to be in the final of the US Open, it feels amazing.
“It means a lot to me. I’d say it wasn’t the best level. I served really well today, I think it was really important.”
Arthur Ashe Stadium often hums with the sound of thousands of conversations, a place to see and be seen rather than focus solely on tennis.
But there was no doubting the excitement about this contest, with actor Hugh Jackman and singer Jon Bon Jovi among the stars in attendance.
Alcaraz has been in scintillating form this fortnight, reaching the last four without dropping a set, and he began in the same vein here with a break of the Djokovic serve in the opening game.
The Serbian had sounded pessimistic about his chances of matching Alcaraz physically but, despite the bad start, he seemed to be enjoying the challenge.
The crowd lapped up his celebration when he drilled a backhand pass down the line past his opponent, but he was unable to really threaten the young Spaniard’s serve.
In truth, this was not a classic. Both men were making more errors than they would have liked and a poor start to the second set from Alcaraz saw Djokovic open up a 3-0 lead.
But the Serbian’s serve was not the weapon he needed it to be and soon Alcaraz was level, Djokovic hanging his head after netting a backhand on break point in the fifth game.
He stood firm through to a tie-break and had the crowd believing when he won two points in a row on the Alcaraz serve, but that only pulled the deficit back to 4-3 and he was soon two sets down.
Djokovic called the trainer at the change of ends for a massage to his neck and right shoulder area – not for the first time this tournament – and he found himself in even deeper trouble when two double faults handed Alcaraz a break for 3-1 in the third set.
The Spaniard was simply too strong, and too young, for this Djokovic and the end came quickly.
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