Carlos Alcaraz finally has his hard-court win over Novak Djokovic, and a U.S. Open final berth to go with it.
Coming out on top of a tight match Friday evening, Alcaraz has still yet to drop a set after posting a 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 victory in front of a star-studded raucous crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium to earn the right to compete for his second title in Flushing.
The Spaniard, who was previously 0-3 against Djokovic on hard surface, has now won 44 of his last 46 matches in a display of utter dominance.
The home crowd was behind Djokovic, who won his one other meeting with Alcaraz in 2025 — in four sets — in the Australian Open quarterfinals. They launched out of their seats on his big points and even had a few “Novak!” cheers soar out of the open roof.
But Alcaraz stayed determined and diligent in fending off the No. 7-seeded Serb.
No man in the Open era has ever won the title without dropping a single set. Alcaraz will look to be the first against the winner of Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The tiebreak saw Alcaraz build a 4-1 advantage, but a couple of hustle points by Djokovic cut it to one. Alcaraz then blasted a 131mph serve to set up his second set point.
