Australian Open 2026: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Alexander Zverev to close in on career Grand Slam

Carlos Alcaraz is into the final of the men’s singles at the Australian Open for the first time in his tennis career, beating Alexander Zverev in the semi-final on Friday (30 January).

At the Rod Laver Arena, the top seed dispatched the third seed across five sets: 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 to close in on a career Grand Slam.

It proved to be a gruelling five-hour contest on court, Alcaraz having to work his way through discomfort before seeing out the win.

“I always say you have to believe in yourself no matter what,” the world No. 1 said after booking his spot in the Championship match. “No matter what you’re going through or what you’ve been through, you still have to believe.

“It was one of the most demanding matches that I have played in my career.

“I’ve been in these kind of situations so I knew what I had to do: I had to put my heart into it and I fought until the last ball.”

Alcaraz will face either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday (1 February).

Australian Open 2026: All results, full set scores

Alcaraz digs deep to book spot in final

It was a finely poised opening set between the two, kick-starting their 13th meeting with consecutive service holds until 4-4, when Alcaraz made the first move by breaking.

The Spaniard went on to hold clinically, leaving his German opponent with little chance as he took control of the tenth game to see out the set.

While set two bore a lot of similarities in the opening four games, Zverev went on to pull ahead, building what looked like a commanding 5-2 lead. From there, Alcaraz shifted gear, capitalising on a significant swing in momentum to play his way back into the set in remarkable fashion.

At 6-6, a tense tiebreaker settled this stage of the match, ultimately falling in favour of the world No. 1, who used his shot versatility to take a huge step towards the final.

Set three continued competitively, each player holding his serve throughout despite Alcaraz struggling with a groin issue towards the latter stages. Zverev utterly dominated the resulting tiebreak 6-3, forcing the match into a fourth set and giving himself the chance to make a dramatic turnaround.

Despite a more limited range of movement for the Spanish star, Alcaraz answered everything that Zverev threw at him in the fourth set, staying within distance of the German. But in another high-stakes tiebreak, both players holding serve in the set, Zverev found the edge once more to complete the comeback and force this contest into a fifth and final set.

Set five broke the mould of the previous two and for the first time since the second set, we saw a break early on, with Zverev the beneficiary.

When it mattered most, though, Alcaraz dug deep to deliver a critical break of serve to bring things level at 5-5, and then another break at 7-5 to see out a thriller in what now stands as the longest semi-final in Australian Open history.

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