World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alexander Zverev (3) 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in the men’s singles semifinals at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday, Jan 30.
Alcaraz seemed well on his way to a straight-sets win but suffered an issue with his right upper leg in the third set, severely limiting his mobility for the end of the third set and throughout the fourth.
YA HEAR THAT? CARLOS ALCARAZ IS GOING TO HIS FIRST AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL🗣️ pic.twitter.com/v6VIstSkWf
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) January 30, 2026
Despite that, Alcaraz still held serve, and Zverev needed tiebreaks to get back into the match. Alcaraz started regaining his mobility in the fourth set, and his trademark forehand and drop shot finally regained their feel in the fifth as he was on the brink of a loss after an early break. Instead, Alcaraz broke Zvrerev’s last two service sets to win an epic match.
The world number one took a medical timeout – leaving third seed Zverev irate – and looked a shadow of his former self as his German opponent forced a decider.
Zverev went an early break up in the fifth set and served for the match at 5-4, before Alcaraz produced a scarcely believable comeback.
Buoyed by the crowd, Alcaraz broke to get the match back on serve and then capitalised on Zverev’s nerves as the German served at 6-5 down to try to force a 10-point tie-break.
Alcaraz fell to the floor in complete disbelief as Zverev missed a backhand to send him into Sunday’s showpiece.
Victory keeps alive the 22-year-old’s bid to write more tennis history – should he win on Sunday, he will become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
Only Novak Djokovic – and Alcaraz’s own physical condition – now stand in the way of a fourth successive Grand Slam final between the Spaniard and Jannik Sinner.
