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Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will face off in the Australian Open final after both emerged victorious on Friday from epic, drama-filled five-set semifinals.
Alcaraz, the world number one, defeated the number three, Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that began in the afternoon heat and concluded five hours and 27 minutes later, becoming the longest semifinal in the history of the Australian Open.
That delayed the start of Djokovic's match against defending champion Jannik Sinner by a couple of hours. The owner of 24 Grand Slam titles finally sealed a 3-6, 6-3, 4-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory shortly after 1:30 in the morning.
Djokovic reached his 11th Australian Open final by putting an end to a four-match losing streak in semifinals at four consecutive majors. Alcaraz will play his first final at Melbourne Park and aspires to be the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.
In the first semifinal, Alcaraz overcame cramps and an injury to defeat Zverev in a back-and-forth duel. At 22 years old, the Spaniard aims to be the youngest man to complete the Grand Slam.
¿Cuál es récord que rompió Alcaraz en la semifinal más larga del torneo?
The Alcaraz-Zverev match was the longest of the tournament so far, and the longest semifinal in the history of the Australian Open, surpassing the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.
“This has been one of the most demanding matches I have played in my career,” said Alcaraz. “We pushed ourselves to the limit physically. We took our bodies to the extreme and the level of the fifth set was really very high.”
“I would place this match at the top of the best ones I have won in my career,” he added.
¿Cómo fue la semifinal histórica de Alcaraz vs Zverev en el Abierto de Australia?
Alcaraz was two points away from sealing his victory in the third set of a tournament where he had not dropped a set in the previous five rounds.
In the fifth set, he was trailing after losing the first game and failed to break his rival's serve until Zverev was serving to win in the tenth.
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted that he suffered, but that “I kept believing, believing, all the time.”
“I have been in these situations, I have been in these types of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did. I fought until the last ball.”
The world number one had a two-set lead and seemed to be in the form that led him to win the US Open last year and has helped him evenly split the last eight majors with Sinner.
But in the ninth game of the third set, the Spaniard began to limp and seemed to have problems in his upper right leg. After holding serve for 5-4, he requested a medical timeout at the changeover. It could have been a cramp, but he rubbed the inside of his right thigh and called the physiotherapist, who massaged the area.
Zverev was visibly annoyed and spoke with a tournament official when his rival was granted a three-minute break for treatment.
“I was having cramps, so normally you can't take a medical timeout for cramps,” said Zverev. “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 now, because I think this is one of the best battles there has been in Australia. It doesn't deserve to be the topic now,” he added.
A pesar de su limitada movilidad, Alcaraz pudo pegar golpes ganadores y se puso 6-5 antes de volver a ser atendido por el fisioterapeuta en el cambio de lado para un nuevo masaje en la zona.
When he returned to the court, the crowd offered him enthusiastic support. Zverev committed a double fault at the beginning of the next game, and Alcaraz hit a lob and a forehand winner down the line to go 0-30 up. But Zverev scored four consecutive points to force the tiebreak and win it.
Zverev, third in the ATP ranking and runner-up in 2025, kept his composure despite Alcaraz's obvious discomfort on the other side of the net and the crowd at Rod Laver Arena, which clearly favored the Spaniard.
He was ahead throughout the fourth set, but Alcaraz maintained his rhythm until, once again, the German took the tiebreak. After more than four hours, the match went to the fifth set. It was the first match played on the center court to reach a deciding set in the 2026 tournament.
Although he lost his serve in the opening game, Alcaraz matched Zverev and earned five break opportunities that he failed to convert.
The drama intensified in the sixth game when Alcaraz ran to reach a drop shot and slid at full speed for an angled forehand that drove the crowd wild.
Alcaraz finally managed to break Zverev's serve when the German was serving to seal his spot in the final with a 5-4 lead in the fifth set.
He held serve for 6-5 and converted his first match point as Zverev tried to stay in the game on his own serve.
[Publicidad]