The career of Carlos Alcaraz could be one that takes up a great deal of space in the record books, and he is getting started early.
Not yet old enough to buy a stiff drink in a New York bar, the 19-year-old was the toast of Flushing Meadows after a late-night win over Marin Cilic that ran into the early hours of Tuesday.
That five-set win against the 2014 champion, combined with the shock exit of Rafael Nadal at Frances Tiafoe's hands, has raised expectations that Alcaraz could scoop a first grand slam title on Sunday.
Should he land that breakthrough major, there will be another feather in his cap, making Alcaraz the youngest world number one since the ATP rankings were established in 1973, and the first teenager to hold down top spot. He has climbed from 32nd at the start of the year to his current position of fourth on the list.
Nadal is poised to go to number one, which he last held in February 2020, unless Alcaraz or 23-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud reach the title match. They are the only two players remaining in the draw who can clamber to the top ranking, which Daniil Medvedev will relinquish after his fourth-round exit to Nick Kyrgios.
If both reach the final, the champion will go to number one.
In the city that never sleeps, Alcaraz completed a 6-4 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 win over Croatian Cilic at 02:23 local time, three minutes short of matching the latest finish in US Open history, shared jointly by three matches: Mats Wilander vs Mikael Pernfors (1993), John Isner v Philipp Kohlschreiber (2012), Kei Nishikori v Milos Raonic (2014).
The victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium made Alcaraz the youngest man to reach back-to-back US Open quarter-finals since Australians Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall both achieved the feat before turning 19 in 1953. It was called the US Championships in that era.
Alcaraz has won a tour-leading 48 matches in 2022 and has become the youngest man to reach three grand slam quarter-finals since Michael Chang over 30 years ago.
However, he next faces a player making his own history.
Alcaraz's quarter-final opponent is a recent nemesis: Jannik Sinner, the 21-year-old Italian who beat him in round four at Wimbledon and again in the final of the clay-court event in Umag, Croatia, at the end of July.
"I played a couple of times against him," Alcaraz said. "He's a great player, really tough one. I lost twice in two months [to him] so I will have to be ready for this battle against Jannik."
There is a victory that Alcaraz could point to, having defeated Sinner on an indoor hard court at the Paris Masters last November, but they have never played on an outdoor hard court, which is where they will do battle on Wednesday.
Sinner has now reached the quarter-final stage of all four majors, becoming the youngest man to pull off that feat since a 20-year-old Novak Djokovic completed the set in 2008.
The last-eight duel with Alcaraz could be a sizzling clash, albeit Alcaraz and Sinner had some recharging to do on Tuesday after both were pushed to five sets in round four, in Sinner's case by Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. Alcaraz now has a 6-1 win-loss record in five-set matches.
Nobody remaining in the men's quarter-finals has a slam title to their name, and Alcaraz will hope he continues to have the backing of the crowd in Queens.
He said after fending off Cilic: "Of course, the support today in Arthur Ashe was crazy. After losing the fourth set, it was tough for me to come back in the fifth set, to stay strong mentally. But the energy I received today made me win."
ATP Finals: Sinner stays perfect with assured Fritz victory
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to end his stellar season with the ATP Finals title after downing Taylor Fritz in straight-sets to earn his second win of the tournament.
Sinner emerged a 6-4 6-4 victor in an hour and 40 minutes in Turin, with his latest triumph improving his record to 7-0 on indoor hard courts in 2024.
The Italian showed his intentions with a love service game to open the first set, but was matched by his American opponent, who was also looking to maintain his perfect start.
Sinner missed four break points in the eighth game, but made no mistake in Fritz's following service game to claim the early advantage in Turin.
Fritz again traded blows with the year-end world number one, but would again lose a decisive break late in the second set that put Sinner within touching distance.
The American exchanged in another pulsating rally with his opponent, but sent a backhand wide to send Sinner through and to the top of the Ilie Nastase Group after two matches.
Up next for Sinner is Daniil Medvedev, who beat Alex de Minaur earlier on Tuesday, while Fritz will face the Australian on Thursday.
Data Debrief: The Italian Job
In a back-and-forth tussle with Alexander Zverev to end the year with the most wins, Sinner levelled the German with his Tour-leading 67th victory in 2024 on Tuesday.
He also sealed a 12th win against an American opponent this season, only managing more wins against Ben Shelton (three) this season than Fritz (two, level with Alex Michelsen).
Sinner (2023-24) is only the third player in the Open Era to claim 47+ ATP match wins on hard court in consecutive seasons after Roger Federer (2005-06) and Novak Djokovic (2012-13, 15-16).
Daniil Medvedev credited his ability to "block out the noise" as crucial in getting his ATP Finals campaign up and running with a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur.
Medvedev, who lost his opening game of the tournament to Taylor Fritz, returned to winning ways with a 6-2 6-4 triumph over the Australian in 78 minutes on Tuesday.
The Russian cut a frustrated figure in his defeat to Fritz on Sunday, breaking his racket and was docked a point after serving a third consecutive double fault during the encounter.
However, the fourth seed produced an expertly measured performance, winning 20 out of 31 baseline points in the opening set to claim the early advantage.
The second set was more evenly contested, but Medvedev secured a crucial break point in the ninth game, going on to seal his first top 10 win on hard courts since March.
"After the last match I was too tired to fight mentally the way I do and so, during the match, when it doesn't work your way, you want to win and when you start losing you get frustrated," Medvedev said.
"So I went into this match thinking, if I lose I go home on Thursday for sure and if I win then I have the chance to have a good feeling. I tried to hit some shots and it worked well and I'm ok with it.
"A lot of football players do it [block the noise]. It's more about social media and for sure after my performance with Taylor and some of my comments ... I tried to read it less.
"I went into this match trying to block the noise even from myself, so no tantrums and I really didn't care what was happening on the court."
Medvedev will seek to bolster his hopes of progressing from the John Newcombe Group when he takes on Jannik Sinner next, with the Italian in action against Fritz later on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Cool, calm and collected
Medvedev kept his hopes of sealing a second ATP Finals crown alive with a composed display against De Minaur, improving his record to 45-19 for the season.
While the Russian produced more unforced errors (18) than De Minaur (15), Medvedev showed his quality by hitting 24 winners, 14 of which came with his forehand.
Medvedev also claimed his sixth top 10 win of 2024, while also improving his head-to-head record against his Australian opponent to 7-3, avenging his defeat in the French Open round of 16 earlier this year.
Osaka has set sights on grand slam title – Mouratoglou
Naomi Osaka is targeting a fifth grand slam win of her career, so says Patrick Mouratoglou.
Osaka, who has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open twice, will head into 2025 as the world number 59.
The former world number one has had a stop-start career in recent years, as she took time away from the sport to focus on her mental health, before then giving birth.
She has taken part in 18 WTA Tour-level competitions this season, with her best effort a run to the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open in February.
Mouratoglou, a former coach of Serena Williams, has been helping to guide the 27-year-old, and he explained Osaka has set her sights on another major crown.
"[With] Serena, motivation was extremely key after she beat the record of [Martina] Navratilova and Chris Evert [to reach 23 Grand Slam singles titles]," he told Sky Sports.
"But I think we worked so well together because I think we were both motivating each other all the time. I knew exactly how to talk to her. She knew exactly how to talk to me. I was pushing her, she was pushing me and that was like that every day.
"So that's why it works so well. For Naomi, it's different because she really feels she has to give and do much more. She had two very difficult years.
"First, she had this mental health issue, and then she had a baby. So she's been out, and then she restarted the year this season and it was not a very good season.
"Before the first tournament we did together she was 80 in the world and she knows she can do much better than that.
"She's extremely motivated to come back and win grand slams, and it's a pleasure for me because that's the dream of every coach: to have a player who has that level of motivation."
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