World number 6 Alexander Zverev withstood a late wake-up call from world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz, beaten 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 on Wednesday, to join world number 3 Daniil Medvedev in semi-final of the Australian Open. Zverev served to win the match in the third set after less than two hours of play, before Alcaraz restarted the game at the last minute, ultimately in vain. Medvedev reached the final four by defeating world number 9 Hubert Hurkacz earlier in the day.
Zverev will play the seventh major semi-final of his career on Friday, his second in Melbourne, at 26 years old. He has only reached one final so far, lost at the 2020 US Open. This is the first time that the great German has beaten a top 5 player in a Grand Slam.
No miracle for Alcaraz
In the cool of Rod Laver Arena, Zverev came close to knocking out Alcaraz in less than two hours, when he led 6-1, 6-3, 5-2. On the wire, the 20-year-old Spaniard created a wind of madness, with insane passing in the deciding game, to win the third round and get back into the game.
But Zverev did not lose control and was able to take control at the right moment, at the end of the fourth set, by breaking to lead 5-4. This time, no miracle for Alcaraz, who finally lost in just over three hours.
Earlier in the Australian fortnight, Zverev had escaped extremely narrowly twice, in the super tie-break of the fifth set (in the second round and in the round of 16). The poster for the first semi-final has been known since the day before: it will pit world number 1 Novak Djokovic against world number 4 Jannik Sinner.