The favorite to win the US Open and the defending champion of the tournament is going home early.
Carlos Alcaraz, the top-seeded 20-year-old, newly crowned Wimbledon title and winner of last year’s major event in Queens, lost to No. 3 Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
The victory was atone for the Russian, who lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.
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Medvedez needed four match points in the fourth set to get the job done, while Alcaraz did everything he could to hold on a little longer.
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Russia’s Daniil Medvedev celebrates after defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men’s singles semifinal match of the 2023 US Open. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
The Spaniard defeated Casper Ruud last year to win his first Grand Slam title and beat Novak Djokovic, Medvedev’s final opponent on Sunday, for his second at the Wimbledon Championships in July.
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The match was set to become an instant classic as the first set had to be decided by a tiebreaker, but all the momentum was in Medvedev’s hands. He took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Alcaraz finally won a game – and that was all he got.
However, Alcaraz didn’t let go unnoticed and won the third set in convincing fashion.
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In the fourth set, Medvedev was 3-2 ahead, broke Alcaraz’s serve and then promptly held on to take a 5-2 lead.
Alcaraz won the next game and even had two break points while trailing 5-3 in the fourth, giving him a chance to stay alive and potentially move into the deciding fifth set, but the easing pressure of victory saw Medvedev rise to the occasion Occasion.
Daniil Medvedev will now face Novak Djokovic for the Grand Slam title on Sunday, a rematch of the 2021 US Open men’s final. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Alcaraz stayed alive with three match points and the Arthur Ashe crowd was behind the young stallion, but Medvedev eventually prevailed.
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Medvedev now hopes to win his second Grand Slam against Djokovic on Sunday, a rematch of the 2021 US Open which the Russian won in straight sets.
Djokovic will of course try to extend his record of 23 Grand Slam titles. He defeated 20-year-old unranked American Ben Shelton in straight sets on Friday.
Carlos Alcaraz (l) shakes hands with Daniil Medvedev (r) after being defeated in his men’s semifinal match at the 2023 US Open. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
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Djokovic’s match on Friday marked his 47th Grand Slam semifinal appearance, a new record.
Sunday marks Medvedev’s fifth Grand Slam final and Djokovic’s 37th.