Australian Open 2026: Carlos Alcaraz Set To Make Maiden Finale Appearance; World No.1 Reacts To His Semi-Final Win

Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury to fend off Alexander Zverev in an epic, momentum-swinging five-setter Friday, becoming the youngest man in the Open era to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam events.

At 22, he’s aiming to be the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.

He reached his first Australian Open final the hard way, winning 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in 5 hours, 27 minutes.

It was the longest match of the tournament so far, and the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open — surpassing the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco.

That's despite him being two points away in the third set from a semifinal victory in a tournament where he hadn’t dropped a set through five rounds.

After a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg and massages on the same area at two changeovers, Alcaraz's footwork wasn't up to his usual elite standard.

He made it through the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. But he kept up the pressure and didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match in the 10th. He won the last four games.

The top-ranked Alcaraz will next face either two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner or 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, who is bidding for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles crown. The marathon afternoon match delayed the start of the night semifinal.

Carlos Alcaraz Says He Believed All The Way Through That He Could Win

Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz just said he kept “believing, believing, all the time.”

“I was struggling in the middle of the third set. You know, physically it was one of the most demanding matches that I have ever played," he said. "But I’ve been in these situations, I’ve 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. I fought until the last ball. Extremely proud (of) myself.”

Alcaraz had only lost one of his previous 15 matches that went to five sets. Zverev had a good record in that department, too, at 23-14. But this was the longest match of his career, and he said he ran out of steam.

When he led by two sets, Alcaraz appeared to be in the kind of form that won him the U.S. Open last year and has helped him evenly split the last eight majors with Sinner.