Carlos Alcaraz defeats Frances Tiafoe at the US Open semifinals in a battle of tennis’ rising stars.
With the final stage of the U.S. Open behind them, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic stood at center court for the start of the semifinal. The men’s draw saw plenty of drama, and while neither dropped a set in the third and fourth rounds, Nadal seemed to be running out of steam, as he made only two errors against Dominic Thiem before eventually losing 6-3, 6-4. No wonder he came out on the losing side of the draw, but his opponent has already won a major title: at the 2017 French Open, Thiem defeated Nadal at Roland Garros in five sets, and with the French Open just three rounds away he was set to face him once again.
Thiem was not having it, though, and would later post a 4-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Nadal to advance to the final.
In the women’s semifinals, Serena Williams was in fine form, blasting top-ranked Eugenie Bouchard on her way to a 7-5, 6-4 win to advance to meet the No. 1-ranked player in the world. The world No. 4 is now set to face Williams’ last remaining nemesis, the No. 2 seed and the 2017 Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber.
While Serena was on fire, the women’s semifinal went to the No. 3 seed, Johanna Konta, after she broke the world No. 1 on her way to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Anastasija Sevastova. Sevastova, the No. 5 seed, has been in rare form of late, and as Konta prepared to play her close friend on the court, she was not about to lose.
Also on the women’s side, Petra Kvitova was the talk of the tennis world after winning her third Grand Slam title. The No. 3 seed defeated the No. 2 seed, Frances Tiafoe, 6-4, 7-6 (8-10) to advance to the women’s final.
In the men’s semifinals, Roger Federer and Stan