Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from tennis immortality. I hope it won’t be any more difficult than the grueling five-and-a-half hour match it took to get there.
With a 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev on Friday, the world number one reached the Australian Open final for the first time in his career. If he wins on Sunday, he will complete a career Grand Slam at just 22 years and 272 days old, making him the youngest player in history to accomplish this feat.
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His compatriot Rafael Nadal is currently the youngest player to complete the Career Slam at 24 years and 101 days.
After blowing a two-set lead and dropping a break in the fifth set, Alcaraz suffered from noticeable cramps and at one point it looked like the match was lost. At the cost of another Grand Slam disappointment for Zverev, he still found the gear he needed.
He stated, “This was one of the toughest matches of my short career.”
Alcaraz will find out who his opponent will be in the final later on Friday, as the other semi-final will pit No. 2 Jannik Sinner against No. 4 Novak Djokovic. Both have interesting possibilities, with Sinner representing a new showdown in the greatest rivalry in tennis, with Djokovic playing for his own unprecedented history and winning his 25th career Grand Slam title, breaking a drought at the expense of the two young players who stole Djokovic’s throw.
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In the first match of the semi-finals, Alcaraz didn’t really show his true potential as both players quickly exhausted their strength in Melbourne’s sweltering heat. The situation did not improve even after the match was extended into the fourth and fifth hours. then the 6th
In the first set, Zverev easily handed Alcaraz a break with two double faults and an unforced error. The German held out any hopes with a break in the second set to take a 5-2 lead, but Alcaraz roared back with a break of his own, winning the tiebreak and taking full control of the match. It was during this tie-break that Alcaraz’s bolder side came out, as he scored consecutive points with his trademark drop shot.
The young Spaniard took a 59-0 record at Grand Slams after leading two sets, but Zverev was not in history-making form. The drama arrived in the third set and it looked like Alcaraz had tweaked something. Zverev apparently believed it was just a cramp and objected profanely when Alcaraz was given time to have his thigh treated (evidence: Alcaraz was seen gesturing for something to drink at the end of the second set).
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Whatever it was, Zverev won the third set via a tiebreak. The fourth set also went to a tiebreak, with the clearly limited Alcaraz making regular unforced errors and Zverev being much more consistent with his serve.
The fifth set appeared to be one-sided after Zverev immediately broke Alcaraz. But Alcaraz stayed in the match and played through the discomfort, avoiding a double break and breaking Zverev back when all the German needed was to hold serve to win the match. After holding serve and breaking more times, Alcaraz achieved the most surprising victory of his career.
Alcaraz has already won two French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles and two US Open titles, at an age where even elite pros would consider themselves lucky to win one Grand Slam. In the case of the Australian Open, he never advanced beyond the quarter-finals until 2026 due to top opponents (Zverev in 2024, Djokovic in 2025), but this year he looked different.
And now he’s three sets away from surpassing the sport’s immortals.
