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Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury to fend off Germany’s Alexander Zverev in a gruelling five hour 27 minute five-set thriller to advance to the Australian Open final.
The 22-year-old Spaniard has become the youngest man in the Open era to reach the final of all four grand slam events. He now awaits the winner of the second semi-final match, between Italy’s Jannik Sinner and the seasoned Novak Djokovic, to face-off on Sunday.
Alcaraz, already a six-time grand slam champion, is looking to chase a record, become the youngest to achieve a career grand slam.
The record is currently held by another Spaniard, considered one of tennis’ all-time greats, Rafael Nadal. Nadal achieved his career slam aged just 24, winning the US Open in 2010.
If Alcaraz wins the Australian major on Sunday, he’ll be the youngest player to win all four slams, slashing Nadal’s record by almost two years and bringing his total slam count to an impressive seven titles.
Alcaraz has coasted past opponents so far in Melbourne, being the only player to not drop a single set leading up to his semi-final clash.
Zverev proved to be a worthy opponent, disrupting the Spaniard’s flawless run and pushing him to his absolute limits.
Alcaraz won the two opening sets 6-4 and 7-6. The third set was filled with excitement, and Alcaraz, at one point, was only two points away from securing a straight-set semi-final victory, but an injury to his upper right leg seemed to hinder his performance.
The top seed received treatment in a medical timeout as well as two different changeovers, but it seemed to do little to kick him back into form, with his elite footwork looking noticeably declined.
He made it through the third and fourth sets, losing both 6-7 in tight tiebreaks, and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. But, he kept up the pressure and didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match at 5-4, forcing the match to go long.
After breaking Zverev and levelling the tie at 5-5, Alcaraz held serve and pushed to break Zverev’s serve for a second consecutive time, pulling off a stunning 7-5 to win the match.
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz just said he kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I was struggling in the middle of the third set. You know, physically it was one of the most demanding matches that I have ever played,” he said. “But I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kind of matches before, so I knew what I had to do.”
Alcaraz is sure to face a major challenge on Sunday, regardless who prevails.
If the 38-year-old Djokovic advances, beating out the world number two, the Spaniard will have to come up with a stunning performance to snatch the title from a veteran who has won it 10 times.
If the defending champion Sinner advances, fans are guaranteed a nail-biting display between the top-two ranked players in men’s tennis, who have equally shared the last eight grand slam titles between them.
Additional sources • AP