Carlos Alcaraz continued his march towards becoming the youngest World No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when he clawed past 2014 champion Marin Cilic in the fourth round of the US Open.
Alcaraz outlasted the former World No. 3 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the second consecutive year. The match ended at 2:23 a.m., marking the fourth-latest finish in tournament history.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Alcaraz said of how he won the match. “It was pretty, pretty tough at the beginning of the fifth set [being a] break down. But Marin was playing unbelievable. I believe in myself all the time. Of course the support today in Arthur Ashe [Stadium] was crazy. Without you guys, it wouldn’t be possible to win this match tonight, so thank you very much for the support tonight, thank you.
“I would say 100 per cent of the energy I put in the fifth set was thanks to you. It was unbelievable.”
