Jannik Sinner felt he delivered a good performance versus Carlos Alcaraz, but admitted that it was “very tough” to lose such a match.
On Wednesday night, 3rd-seeded Alcaraz defeated 11th-seeded Sinner 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-7 (0) 7-5 6-3 to reach the US Open semifinal.
The match finished at 2.50am local time after the two battled for five hours and 15 minutes.
Also, the match set the record for the latest finish at Flushing Meadows.
“It’s not easy to talk now because I finished the match not so long ago. But it was a good match from my side, from his side. Could finish in three sets, could finish in four sets, could finish in five sets. The level was high,” Sinner said, per the ATP website. “At some point I didn’t serve that well, but he was returning well. It was a good match. Obviously the crowd was good. For me only the second time on Ashe. So it was a good match for sure. But a very, very tough one.”
Sinner lost after failing to convert a match point
Up by two sets to one, Sinner also had a 5-3 lead in the fourth set.
When the time came for Sinner to close out the match, he missed out on a match point in the 10th game.
After breaking back Sinner in the 10th game, Alcaraz broke the Italian again in the 12th game to send the match into a fifth set.
Sinner actually made a good start to the fifth set as he earned the first break of the set in the fifth game to open a 3-2 lead.
Sinner’s game then collapsed as Alcaraz claimed back-to-back breaks and won the next four games to complete a big victory.
For Sinner, it was yet another devastating Grand Slam loss.
In the Wimbledon quarterfinal, Sinner was up by two sets before Novak Djokovic stormed back to win in five sets.