Five hours and 15 minutes. A tournament-record 2:50 a.m. ending. Last year’s US Open quarter-final clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had it all.

The battle was even one point from ending with a different result, which would have changed the course of tennis history. Alcaraz triumphed that evening — morning, really — 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 to advance. The Spanish sensation eventually won the title and by doing so became the youngest World No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.

Sinner was potentially one shot from flipping that script. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, he missed a crosscourt backhand wide off a backhand return from Alcaraz.

“My match point I still have it now a little bit in the mind, that I missed the backhand cross,” Sinner said. “But if you don’t cancel these situations, you will always think about this, so now it’s enough. I don’t want to talk anymore about this match.

“It was a good and entertaining match. Not only [that] we really enjoyed to play, but I think all the fans watched it, so it was good. But in the other way, hopefully I can face him some more times throughout my whole career and then we’ll see.”

One of the world feed commentators for the match was Robbie Koenig, who climbed as high as No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. The South African recalled the raucous atmosphere inside Arthur Ashe Stadium as the evening turned to morning.

“In the tail end of the fourth set, Sinner had the match point and loses it, plays a poor game there by the way. I remember him serving particularly badly to the deuce court, I think he threw in two double faults, and then obviously got broken having the match point on serve, and the place was going bonkers,” Koenig recalled. “And I was thinking, ‘It sounds like it’s full, right?’ But then you look around, and there’s maybe I don’t know, 5,000 people max in the stadium. But they knew what they were witnessing. And those are the hardcore tennis fans that stay behind.”

Given the late hour, it was understandable the stadium was not at full capacity. But because of that, fans heard every thwack of the ball as two of the game’s best ball-strikers went to town at the hard-court major. Both men crushed every shot with vicious swings, blasting winners and playing tenacious defence as they screeched around the court.

“I just remember how loud it was. And you spoke to me about the echo [of the ball-striking] that you could hear. And it was the same with the fans, this reverberation from 5,000. It sounded like 50,000,” Koenig said. “The atmosphere was insane. I was commentating with Nick Lester, and it was like five hours, 15 minutes, the match. And I remember as well when we finished, we jokingly took a picture of ourselves lying on the floor, as if we had also played the match here. And honestly, it didn’t feel that long.”

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It was not just that it was the late-night match. It felt like the moment in which Alcaraz and Sinner proved they were ready to reach the top of the sport. They showed it with their technical skill and tenacity, with both men displaying relentless determination throughout.

“The biggest thing was the level of the tennis,” Koenig said. “I think so often, we’re so quick just to say ‘Oh, that’s, an all-time classic’, just because it was five sets and you always remember the end of the match. But I think when you deep dive into a lot of classics, you’ll actually see the level and maybe two of the sets weren’t that great. But the thing about that match, the level from set one to the tail end of set five was off the charts. And you don’t say that too often about five-set matches. So that’s something that really sticks in my mind.

“That’s why it was so easy at the end of the year when we were commentating on Turin, ‘Robbie, what was your match of the year?’ Boom, stuck out like a sore thumb. 100 per cent.”

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Alcaraz and Sinner have played twice since then, both at ATP Masters 1000 events. After the Spaniard won in straight sets at Indian Wells, the Italian took a gruelling three-setter in Miami. Instead of allowing the disappointment of his late-night New York loss to set him back, Sinner has continued forward.

The 22-year-old is fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and just claimed his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto.

“I think you grow a lot throughout one year. I’ve obviously [grown] physically and mentally,” Sinner said. “A lot of things happened. I made some more important matches throughout one year and this makes you also a better player, but a more experienced player. So I feel this. This is a little bit different than last year for sure.

“I feel like also in the situation where I am in now is a little bit different. So everything has changed a little bit but the way we practise and everything, and the intensity, it’s always the same because you have to improve.”

Sinner will try to continue putting last year’s Flushing Meadows loss behind him when he plays German Yannick Hanfmann in the first round Tuesday.