Carlos Alcaraz reaches US Open quarterfinal with late-night win against Marin Cilic
SAN FRANCISCO — Carlos Alcaraz reached the No. 2 spot on Thursday with a late-night victory against Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz, who has been on a tear since his breakthrough run in March, reached the final in a thrilling finish that had the final 30 minutes of the match hanging from the edges of the court, including one 5-4 (2), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (5) victory over the 23-year-old Cilic.
The defeat was a loss for Alcaraz at a Grand Slam tournament his last time out, a round after he was eliminated in the second round by Kyle Edmund at the French Open. He came out of that match with an 18-8 (7), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 victory over a pair of young American foes at the U.S. Open, including his own brother Matias, 15, and 17-year-old Lucas Miedler.
“I don’t know if this is going to be the end of the story. It will be a good story to tell a different ending than what’s happened,” Alcaraz said after the tournament. “I have a lot of goals for this year, but I won’t keep this up all year, that’s for sure.”
“I think that was the biggest win of my young career,” said Cilic, a three-time major champ who had been in the top 20 for most of the opening days.
Both men went away from the court at the end and Cilic admitted he felt he could have done better at hitting Alcaraz off the court.
“That’s what I’m going to tell myself. I was really bad tonight. You have to be better than you are playing,” Cilic said. “I can’t be thinking about that.”
And he wasn’t.
