Carlos Alcaraz has reached the semifinals at the Australian Open for the first time in his career.
This is quite a surprising statistic, considering that the young Spanish ace had already made nine appearances in the semifinals of Grand Slam tournaments prior to this tournament.
Until the 2026 edition, the current world number one had never developed a particular affinity with the Happy Slam and had never gone beyond the quarterfinals.
Several experts and insiders believed that Carlitos would have further difficulties at Melbourne Park this year due to the absence of Juan Carlos Ferrero, who stopped being his coach after more than seven years.
Alcaraz is playing at his fifth AO
The six-time Grand Slam champion looked calm and relaxed from the first round and progressively raised his level, qualifying for the semifinals without losing a single set. The 22-year-old from Murcia put in an almost perfect performance against Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and is set to face Alexander Zverev to reach his fourth Major final in a row.
The Spanish star reached the final at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open last year and dreams of completing the Career Grand Slam before turning 23.
The number 1 seed is aware that he will have to be very careful against Sascha on this surface, considering that the German champion has already beaten him here in the quarterfinals of the 2024 edition.
Interviewed by ‘TNT Sports’, former Swedish champion Mats Wilander discussed Alcaraz's strange relationship with the Happy Slam: “He should have [got to more Australian Open semifinals] but a lot of players have one place where they don’t feel that comfortable, and it could have something to do with the surface, something to do with the weather, something to do with the schedule.
I think a lot of guys didn’t do necessarily that well in Australia because it comes early in the year, and they might not be as prepared, or they need coffee. So, it’s not that strange to me, but when you see him playing like this, then suddenly, it is very strange.”
