By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Carlos Alcaraz managed to keep his career Grand Slam bid alive when he fought through cramp in his leg to deliver an epic 6-4 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-7(4) 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev and reach his first Australian Open final on Friday.
The 22-year-old looked concerned and was unable to move freely at 4-4 in the third set, but relied on his ball-striking and placement to land winners and prolong a contest that seemed in danger of ending prematurely.
Alcaraz persevered to see off Zverev in the decider and will look to recover for a match with either Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final, where victory will complete his full set of majors.
No stranger to marathon battles after his 2025 French Open final win over Sinner, Alcaraz said belief was the key to making it through the longest Australian Open semi-final at five hours and 27 minutes.
“I always say you have to believe in yourself no matter what,” Alcaraz said.
“I was struggling in the middle of the third set. Physically it was one of the most demanding matches I’ve played in my short career. But I’ve been in this situation before.
“I had to put my heart into the match. I did it and fought until the last ball … I’m extremely proud of that and the way I came back in the fifth set.”
Six-times Grand Slam winner Alcaraz wrapped up the opening two sets on a sunny Rod Laver Arena and looked on course in the next before experiencing cramp.
Switching between big hitting and drop shots, Alcaraz went up 5-4 before taking a medical timeout, leaving a fuming Zverev to remonstrate with the supervisor that his opponent should not be allowed treatment for cramp under the rules.
“What can I do? I didn’t like it but it’s not my decision,” Zverev said. “I said it was bullshit, basically.”
Alcaraz said he was unsure at the time if it was cramp or an adductor issue.
“After that with all the stress. I didn’t know what’s going on, I didn’t know if it’s going to be worse or not,” he said.
“In that moment I just talked to the physio. I said I just went to run to the forehand side and I started to feel the right adductor. He decided to take the medical timeout.”
Alcaraz soldiered on by sipping on pickle juice, but Zverev showed no mercy and mounted a comeback to force a deciding set.
Zverev broke for an early lead in the fifth set but Alcaraz looked like his usual self again when he chased down a drop shot and pulled off a winner at full stretch.
The first five-setter on centre court this year only looked like having one winner when Alcaraz broke in the 10th game, and he dropped to his back in disbelief after wrapping up victory.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Toby Davis)
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