By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, January 30, 2026
Photo credit: Phil Walter/Getty
Sprinting from sideline to sideline, Carlos Alcaraz capped an astounding trip from agony to ecstasy with one final forehand flash.
On match point, Alcaraz ripped a running forehand down the line then collapsed to the blue court like a man plunging into a pool splashing into his maiden Australian Open final in an epic.
A courageous Alcaraz overcame apparent mid-match cramping, twice vomited into his towel, rallied from 3-5 down in the final set and reeled off four games in a row fending off Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in a mind-blowing Melbourne marathon semifinal.
The five hour, 27-minute epic is the second longest Grand Slam semifinal in Open Era history.
It will go down as a match for the ages.
Hobbled by draining leg cramps in the third set, Alcaraz struggled to run for long stretch of the third set before gradually regaining his strength in the fourth set.
By the time he fired that final forehand, the 22-year-old Spaniard was flying—and AO fans were roaring saluting the guts and grit both men poured into this match.
How did a resilient Alcaraz pull off this pulsating comeback in the third longest AO match of all time?
“Believing. Believing all the time,” Alcaraz told Hall of Famer Jim Courier in his on-court interview. “I always say that you have to believe in yourself no matter what struggles you’ve been through, no matter anything you are still going to believe in yourself all the time.
“I was struggling in the middle of the third set. Physically, it was one of the most demanding matches that I have ever played in my short career.
“I have been in these kind of matches before so I knew what I had to do. I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it it. I fought until the lat ball. Extremely proud of myself the way that I fought and the way that I came back in the fifth set.”
Continuing his quest to become the youngest man in history to complete the career Grand Slam, the 22-year-old Spanish superstar will face either two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner or Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.
It is the maiden Melbourne Park final for Alcaraz, who is the 12th man in Open Era history—and youngest man—to reach the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The question is: How will Alcaraz, who was gulping pickle juice and getting leg massages on changeovers to combat cramps, respond from a punishing physical test?
“I’m just really happy to play my first final here in Melbourne. Something I was chasing a lot having the chance to fight for the title. I think it’s been a great two weeks so far. I think my level’s been great. One thing I gotta say is I couldn’t stay here right now without these guys [the crowd].
“It was for me a real privilege playing in front of all of you. The way you pushed me back into the match. The way you pushed me every time. It’s been crazy. I’m really grateful for the support I got not only for this match but for the whole tournament. I can’t wait. Right now my head is about recovering as much as I can to be in a good state to put on a good show for you guys and I’ll see you on Sunday I guess.”
Spare a thought for Zverev, who fought gallantly and was on the verge of a second straight AO final, while Alcaraz was reeling and appeared on the brink of tapping out at one point.
“Unbelievable fight, battle. Unfortunate ending for me, but to be honest, I had absolutely nothing left in me,” Zverev said. “Even at 5-4, you know normally I can rely on my serve a bit more. My legs stopped pushing upward, so yeah, that’s the way it is. This is life. We move on.”
The 2025 finalist broke to start the final set, out-dueled Alcaraz in forehand exchanges in saving break points to hold for 5-3, then served for the final at 5-4.
Ultimately, Alcaraz’s electric forehand jolted the German in the final three games and Zverev blinked when he served for the final at 5-4, dropping serve at 15.
A revitalized Alcaraz raised his arms toward the sky like a boxer exhorting the packed Rod Laver Arena crowd to make more noise.
Riding that wave of energy, Alcaraz amped up his game and reeled off 13 of the last 18 points in an astounding comeback.
At times both men showed signs of frustration in the first set.
Zverev sent some of his Head racquets out for restringing. In the ninth game, tension tightened up the German, who basically broke himself.
The third seed double faulted twice—including on break point to gift the break and a 5-4 lead to Alcaraz. It was an untimely lapse for the German, who had stamped love holds in two of his first three service games.
Alcaraz streaked through his first love hold and snatched a one-set lead when a jittery Zverev jerked a forehand well wide.
The world No. 1 served 80 percent and won 17 of 20 first-serve points in the opening set.
Relaxed with the one-set lead, Alcaraz showed his court creativity and shot-making brilliance in the fourth game of set two. In a nose-to-nose net exchange, Alcaraz thumped a forehand volley winner then short-hopped a fantastic forehand flick winner holding for 2-all.
The three-time major finalist answered hammering his fourth ace wide holding at 15 for 3-2.
Zverev made his move in the sixth game. Quick off the mark, Zverev ran down a sharp-angled Alcaraz drop volley and pushed a reply down the line for triple break point. Alcaraz saved two break point, but on the third the Spaniard was back-pedaling when he sent a forehand long. Zverev broke for 4-2 then blocked a high forehand volley that helped him consolidate for 5-2.
Serving for the second set at 5-3, Zverev couldn’t find his first serve. Alcaraz made him pay for a slew of second serves scalding a backhand down the line to break back for 4-5.
The third seed erased two break points—dotting the sideline with a forehand to end a 17-shot rally and singeing the center stripe with an ace—earning a hard-fought hold for 6-5.
Neither man could manage the mini break in the early stages of the second-set tiebreaker.
Sensing his 6’6” opponent could be physically flagging amid the 86 degree heat, Alcaraz successfully deployed the drop shot twice in succession to go up 4-3 in the tiebreaker.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Zverev put a return right back at Alcaraz’s feet. The Spaniard dug it out then made Zverev play a volley. Zverev badly bungled a backhand volley wide, handing the top seed a set point.
Amping up the pace of his forehand and grunt, Alcaraz detonated a crosscourt forehand to close the set.
One problem for Zverev: Alcaraz was booming his forehand even bigger as the set progressed. A bigger problem for the German: Alcaraz was 59-0 in major matches when up two sets to love.
The six-time Grand Slam champion cruised through 11 consecutive service points building a 3-2 third-set lead.
On the ensuing changeover, Alcaraz twice vomited into his towel.
Serving at 4-all, Alcaraz hunched over and seemed to be battling leg cramps. Dropping to a squat and clutching at his leg, the No. 1 looked to be in a world of hurt. Alcaraz was shaking his legs between points and limped to the line to continue serving though he lacked much leg lift on his delivery.
“Why aren’t you starting the clock after 15 seconds,” an angry Zverev, who had been hit with a time violation earlier in the match, asked chair umpire Marijana Veljović.
Despite the apparent cramping, the Spaniard held for 5-4 then took a three-minute medical timeout as the trainer massaged his right leg.
An irate Zverev berated the supervisor protesting the medical timeout.
“It’s f–king bulls–t,” Zverev bellowed to the supervisor protesting the medical timeout which aren’t supposed to be used for treating cramping.
“I mean, he was cramping, so normally you can’t take a medical timeout for cramping, yeah,” Zverev said afterward. “What can I do? It’s not my decision. I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision.”
Remarkably, Alcaraz, who used every second on the serve clock before serving, still managed to hold while operating on legs looking like licorice.
The top seed was two points from victory when Zverev served at 5-6, Love-30. At 15-30, Zverev went all in on a big second serve and Alcaraz barely missed a forehand return long. Had he made that shot it would have given the US Open champion two match points. Instead, Zverev held for 6-all.
A hobbled Alcaraz tried shortening points, but missed two forehands in a row. Zverev followed with a drop shot winner to go up 5-2 in the tiebreaker.
The 28-year-old German zapped an ace to take the third-set tiebreaker.
Gulping down pickle juice on changeovers, Alcaraz slowly began his recovery in the fourth set. Three times, the Spaniard rallied from Love-30 to hold serve, including firing a forehand pass to level the fourth set at 5-all.
Trying to smile off his predicament, Alcaraz slammed an ace out wide that helped him hold at love to force a fourth-set tiebreaker at four hours.
Inside the player gym, 10-time AO champion Novak Djokovic paused his pre-match stretching routine to stand and watch the drama unfold.
Competing with calm assurance, Zverev continued to play aggressively without taking unnecessary risk as Alcaraz continued his recovery.
Across the net, Zverev was looking stronger and even more determined. Running down a dropper, the lanky Zverev used his wide wingspan to flick back a forehand volley for the mini break and a 2-1 tiebreaker lead. An Alcaraz backhand expired in net as Zverev gained set points at 6-4.
On his first set point, Zverev stepped in and crunched a crosscourt forehand winner to force a fifth set after four hours, seven minutes.
It was the first five-setter on Rod Laver Arena in the tournament.
Four hours, 15-minutes into this epic, Alcaraz double faulted the break and a 1-0 lead to the German, who grabbed his first lead of the day. Zverev backed up the break at 15 for a 2-0 fifth-set lead.
Though Alcaraz was moving at near full strength, his forehand mis-fired when he needed it in the face of bold serving from Zverev. Squandering a 40-0 lead, Zverev saved two break points with gutsy and massive second serves down the T that his opponent could not handle. Stinging a serve down the middle, Zverev worked though a near 13-minute hold extending to 3-1.
Though Alcaraz owns one of the biggest forehands in the game, it was Zverev’s forehand, a sometime shaky shot, that was most damaging on pivotal points.
In the eighth game, Alcaraz earned two break points to get back on serve but ended a 14-shot rally netting a backhand then yanked a wild forehand wide on the second break point.
On the full sprint, Zverev absolutely lasered a rocket running forehand down the line—a 98 mph strike that sealed his hold for 5-3 after five hours, six minutes of pulsating play.
Zverev had the momentum, but Alcaraz seized the moment.
When Zverev served for the final at 5-4, Alcaraz opened the game with a clean backhand pass and closed with a drive down the line breaking back and sending fans into a frenzy.
“I know my five-set record is quite good, as well,” Zverev said. “It’s not something you think about 5-4 serving.
“I had other thoughts in my mind. You know, basically I didn’t want to fall over in the match. No, it’s not something I think about, but yeah, I know that he’s fit, I know that he’s very, very strong and hard to
beat in long matches. He’s proven that last year in Paris, I think, as well against Jannik.”
Carving out a drop shot, Alcaraz fired his 14th forehand winner holding for 6-5 as Zverev’s entire coaching box, including brother Mischa and father Alexander, shifted uneasily in their seats as if sensing nothing would stop the Spaniard’s power of self belief.
Though Zverev had game point to force a final tiebreaker he sent a forehand deep then badly botched a forehand wide to face match point. Alcaraz intercepted the wide serve, streaked to the opposite sideline and flashed the final forehand pass collapsing to the court and rising to his eighth major final.
Tapping his palm over his heart, Alcaraz, who spent five-and-half-hours pouring heart and soul into this semifinal then pointed to fans sharing this moment with the Melbourne faithful.
