Australian Open 2026: Carlos Alcaraz outlasts Alexander Zverev in epic to reach maiden final
The Hindu
Australian Open 2026 tennis championship: men's semifinals. Carlos Alcaraz vs Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner in Melbourne on January 30, 2026
An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev on Friday (January 30, 2026) in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.
The world number one outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hrs 27 mins in hot conditions and will play either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s title match.
But he only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp.
He was allowed to have treatment at the changeover, leaving Zverev furious and angrily remonstrating with officials as medical timeouts are not permitted solely for muscle cramping.
The Spaniard continued but his movement was hampered and he lost his first set of the tournament before the pickle juice kicked in and he fought on.
Despite not being at 100 percent he somehow found a way to claw back from a break down in the fifth set as the crowd roared him on to leave the German shattered.
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