The defending champion and favorite to win the US Open is withdrawing from the competition.
Carlos Alcaraz, the top-seeded 20-year-old fresh off a Wimbledon victory and winner of last year's main event in Queens, was defeated 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 by No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.
The victory was sweet revenge for the Russian, who had lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semifinals in July.
Medvedev had all the momentum when the first set had to be decided by a tiebreaker, making the match an instant classic.
He led 3-0 in the second set when Alcaraz took one game, which was all.Alcaraz took the third set convincingly.
Alcaraz won the next game and had two break points when behind 5-3 in the fourth, giving him a chance to stay alive
and maybe move on to a fifth decisive set, but Medvedev rose to the occasion under pressure.
Alcaraz had three match points, and the Arthur Ashe crowd supported the young stud, but Medvedev won.
Medvedev faces Djokovic on Sunday to win his second Grand Slam, a rematch from the 2021 U.S. Open, which he won in straight sets.
Djokovic will try to add to his 23 Grand Slam championships. On Friday, he beat 20-year-old unranked American Ben Shelton in straight sets.
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