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Super Smash Finals LIVE from 2pmAlcaraz clinches maiden Aus Open final in 5-hour thriller
Nicholas Quinlan • January 30th, 2026 10:17 pm
Carlos Alcaraz | Photo: AAP
Carlos Alcaraz is just one match away from completing a career slam following a win in an absolute epic of a semi-final, which had some controversial moments.
He is now through to his maiden Australian Open final after defeating Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in the space of five hours and 27 minutes in what is the third longest match in Australian Open history.
In a mostly even clash between the two, the world No.1 was able to come through when it mattered the most, having performed slightly better on his overall service game compared to his opponent, particularly on his second serve.
The 22-year-old also proceeded to hit 78 winners for the match, compared to Zverev's 56, whilst having only four more unforced errors.
And it didn’t help that the German No. 3 seed was unable to hold his nerve, which included hitting one of his four double faults to hand Alcaraz one of his two breaks for the match.
This means that Zverev's Grand Slam semi-final record is now at three wins and seven losses, with many wondering if he'll ever win a major.
But it wasn’t all positive for the No. 1 seed.
He did require consistent work on his cramp towards the end of the third set, with the Spaniard using a medical timeout for it.
But this goes against the ruling within the 2026 Grand Slam Rule Book under the Grand Slam tournament regulations on page 19.
Muscle Cramping: A player may receive treatment for muscle cramping only during the time allotted for change of ends and/or set breaks. Players may not receive a Medical Time-Out for muscle cramping.
This would lead Zverev to express his frustrations towards a tournament official.
"It's unbelievable that he gets treated for cramps; it’s BS," he explained.
“You are protecting these two guys all the time.”
And it would be a sentiment shared with Channel Nine's Jim Courier.
“He is cramping," the American said on commentary.
"This is not an injury, and that is why Zverev is melting down. He is completely right here, Alcaraz has pickle juice in his mouth."
But after Alcaraz was one game away from a maiden Australian Open final, the German held serve and won the third set tie break (7-6 (7-3)) with ease.
Both men would hold their serve throughout the fourth despite Zverev having two break-point opportunities in the sixth game of the set.
This sent the match into another tie-break, which the German won 7-6 (7-4), pushing it to a deciding 5th set.
And it was made all the tougher for Alcaraz after being broken in his first service game of the set to fall love-two down.
But like all the greats do, they find a way to recover.
In the tenth game, with the scores 4-5 and Zverev only needing to hold serve to win, Alcaraz broke back to return level.
The 22-year-old then held his serve and then broke to win the epic.
His opponent will be either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic, who will play later tonight on Rod Laver Arena.
The men's singles final will be played on Sunday night at the same venue with SEN's broadcast beginning from 6pm AEDT (8pm NZ time) across its radio network and on the Sport Nation app.
SEN will also have coverage of the women's final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, which begins from 6pm AEDT (8pm NZ time) as well.
