CARLOS ALCARAZ gained revenge over Novak Djokovic at the US Open – and then revealed Sergio Garcia owed him $200 for their golf round.
The Spaniard, 22, is on course to regain the New York Slam following a 6-4 7-6 6-2 humbling of the Serbian veteran at Flushing Meadows.
This semi-final lacked the explosive nature of its Box Office billing and Alcaraz, the younger man by 16 years, was the far fresher on court.
He managed to get the better of Djokovic, having lost to him at the Australian Open and in the Paris Olympics gold medal match.
Over the course of two-hours and 23 minutes, apart from one break of serve in set two, the world No.2 coasted to his sixth win in a row this fortnight.
Alcaraz now heads into the US Open final on Sunday without dropping a set and will face either Jannik Sinner, the world No.1, or Canadian outsider Félix Auger-Aliassime.
He said: “It’s a great feeling. Once again, I’m in the final of the US Open. It feels amazing. It means a lot to me.
“Today it wasn’t the best level of the tournament from me but I kept a good level from the beginning to the last point. I served well.
“Being there and trying to play a really physical match, I did it. In general I played good tennis and am happy to play my second final here at the US Open.”
Djokovic, 38, has now finished a second straight year without lifting a Slam Championship.
Though he had two days off after his quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz, his tank was half empty again and his dreams of Slam No.25 have been banished once again.
When he has to face the young guns Alcaraz and Sinner, he knows he is going to fall short over five sets.
Alcaraz spent his days off playing golf on the nearby fairways with Ryder Cup hero Garcia.
And though his compatriot has won the Ryder Cup and a Masters green jacket at home, he lost on the golf course to the tennis superstar, having given him a head start.
Garcia, 45, could be seen getting dollars out of his pocket as Alcaraz spoke on court.
Alcaraz laughed: “He owes me $200 right now. I had two days and I had a game with Sergio. We beat him.
“It was a good day. We spoke about how many strokes he had to give me. I won $400, that’s all you should know.”
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