The men's singles semi-final at the season's first Grand Slam in Melbourne was breathtaking. In the match held at Rod Laver Arena, the rising star of recent years, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, faced off against last year's finalist, German racket Alexander Zverev.
In the match, which went down in the records as the longest semi-final of the tournament and lasted 5 hours and 27 minutes, Alcaraz took the lead by winning the first two sets with scores of 6-4 and 7-6. However, a medical timeout was taken after Alcaraz suffered a cramp in his leg at the beginning of the third set, a situation to which Zverev reacted. The German athlete equalized the score by gaining the upper hand in the tie-breaks of the two consecutive sets.
The final set on the road to the final was filled with great excitement. Zverev gained an early advantage by breaking serve and took a 2-0 lead in games. However, Alcaraz restored balance by breaking his opponent's serve in the 10th game and then won his service game by a hair's breadth to take a 6-5 lead. In the 12th game of the match, despite Zverev being 40-30 up, he made consecutive errors and lost his serve, allowing Alcaraz to take the set 7-5 and book his place in the final.
Thus, the Spanish tennis player earned the right to compete in the final of the Australian Open for the first time and reached a Grand Slam final for the eighth time in total.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz had previously achieved six Grand Slam victories. If he wins the trophy in the final to be played on Sunday, he will also hold the title of the youngest tennis player in history to complete a career Grand Slam.
Alcaraz's opponent in the final will be the winner of the semi-final match between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
News Source: 12punto
