Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man in the Open era to advance to the finals of all four Grand Slam events after overcoming cramping and injuries to defeat Alexander Zverev in a thrilling, momentum-swinging five-set match.
He wants to be the youngest guy to finish a career Grand Slam at the age of 22.
He won 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), and 7-5 in 5 hours and 27 minutes on Friday to make it to his maiden Australian Open final.
In a competition where he hadn’t lost a set in five rounds, he was only two points away from winning the semifinal in the third set.
After losing the opening game, he was behind in the fifth set and didn’t catch up until Zverev was serving to win the match in the 10th.
Next up for Alcaraz is either 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who is vying for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles championship, or two-time reigning champion Jannik Sinner. The semifinal of the evening was postponed due to the lengthy afternoon match.
With a two-set lead, the top-ranked Alcaraz looked to be in the same form that enabled him win the US Open the previous year and split the last eight majors equally with Sinner.
However, he began to limp in the ninth game of the third and seemed to be having trouble with his upper right leg. He took a medical break during the changeover after holding for five to four. He stroked the inside of his right thigh, which might have been a cramp, and called for the trainer, who did the same.
When his opponent received the three-minute break for medical attention, Zverev was clearly angry and speaking with a tournament referee.
Alcaraz managed to strike winners and reach 6-5 despite his poor footwork before the trainer came back in the break to give the area more massage.
The audience enthusiastically cheered him on when he returned outside. The next game began with a double-fault from Zverev, and Alcaraz got to 0-30 by lobbing and then slapping a forehand winner down the line. However, Zverev won four consecutive games to force and ultimately win the tiebreaker.
Despite Alcaraz’s apparent unease on the other side of the net and the Rod Laver Arena crowd’s strong support for the Spaniard, No. 3 Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, maintained his calm.
He led the entire fourth set, but Alcaraz continued to follow him until Zverev seized the lead once more in the tiebreaker. More than four hours had elapsed when the match progressed to a fifth set, the first five-setter on the centre court in the 2026 event.
In the first game of the fifth set, Alcaraz dropped service but managed to hang with Zverev, creating five breakpoint opportunities but unable to convert.
When Alcaraz ran across the court to find a drop shot and slipped at full speed for an angled forehand winner in the sixth game, the tension subsided. The crowd went nuts.
In the fifth set, with Zverev serving for the match at 5-4, Alcaraz eventually converted the break.
In order to stay in the match, he held for 6-5 and converted his first match point while Zverev was serving.
