Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the Australian Open final at the end of an epic match against Alexander Zverev, beaten in five sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, after fighting the cramps that afflicted him at the end of the third set. The Spaniard reached his first Slam final in Melbourne and becomes the youngest athlete to qualify for the finals of any Slam since Jim Courier. Alcaraz had gone two sets ahead, then in the final stages of the third he developed cramps. The German reopened the match by winning the third and fourth but in the meantime the world number one found good mobility and in the fifth he prevailed 7-5, despite being 5-3 down.
«How did I do it? Believing it. I knew I would have my chances and I’m very proud of how I managed to get by”, declared the Murcian tennis player at the end.
In the first set Alcaraz broke Zverev’s serve in the ninth game and closed the score at 6-4 in 40 minutes. In the second, more balanced, we reached a tie-break decided by a minibreak at the end. In the third, when everything seemed to be going well, at 4-4 the Spaniard began to suffer from pain in his right leg, vomited, called the physio at the change of court at 5-4 and had a massage, triggering the German’s anger. “Always help these guys,” protested Zverev, with a clear allusion to Sinner’s case against Spizzirri. Alcaraz took a pill and helped himself with vinegar but lost the set in the tie break. Tie break also in the fourth set, despite a recovering Alcaraz, after four hours of play, and this time the German prevails 7-4. In the fifth set Zverev is unable to maintain the break he won at the start and is recovered from 5-3 to 5-6 and then to the final 5-7.
“One of the toughest matches of my career”
«You must always believe in it, until the end. It was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played, also due to the cramps in the third set. But I knew I had to fight until the last ball. I put my heart into it and I’m extremely proud of what I did. I’m really happy, it’s an incredible achievement to play the final here in Melbourne. It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time. I thank the Rod Laver audience for bringing me back to life today.”