(January 30, 2026) No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz survived cramps and almost 5 and a half hours on court on Friday to beat No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 to reach his first Australian Open final. The 22-year-old Spaniard is bidding to become the youngest male player to win a career Grand Slam.
The 5 hour, 27-minute match, the longest match of the tournament was also the longest semifinal match ever at the Australian Open. It bested the 2009 epic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.
The third and fourth sets saw Alcaraz struggle with his movement, dealing with cramps.
“I was struggling in the middle of the third set,” Alcaraz said.
In the ninth game of the third set, Alcaraz started limping and having issues with his right leg. After holding for 5-4, he took a medical timeout in the changeover and called for the trainer and received treatment.
Zverev was very upset complaining to the tournament supervisor that Alcaraz was given the treatment.
“He was cramping, so normally you can’t take a medical timeout for cramping,” Zverev said. “What can I do? I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision.
“But, to be honest, I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia. It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
“You know, physically it was one of the most demanding matches that I have ever played,” Alcaraz 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.
“I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball. Extremely proud (of) myself.”
Zverev took a 5-3 lead in the fifth set and served for the match at 5-4, but Alcaraz fought back to break, winning the next three games to win 7-5 in the decider.
Alcaraz will face the winner of the match between two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time champion Novak Djokovic. The night match was delayed due to the length of the Alcaraz-Zverev match.
How did the 6-time major winner win? “Believing, all the time,” said Alcaraz in his on-court interview. “I always say you have to believe in yourself, no matter if you are struggling or what you have been through. No matter about anything, you still have to believe in yourself all the time. I was struggling in the middle of the third set. Physically it was one of the most demanding matches that I have played in my short career.”
“I’m just really happy to have the chance to play my first final here in Melbourne,” Alcaraz said. “It is something that I was pursuing a lot, chasing a lot, having the chance to fight for the title.”
More to follow….
