Alexander Zverev (6) did not notice the accumulated fatigue of the previous rounds and managed to eliminate Carlos Alcaraz (2) from the 2024 Australian Open. In a match tinged in its last moments by epic, the German tennis player was impeccable and beat the player from Murcia, weighed down by a bad start, 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(2) and 6-4 in three hours and five minutes.
Zverev came out onto the court with a firm serve and a very high level. Quite the opposite of Alcaraz, who started off unfocused, chaining errors and giving away points. Although the Spaniard seemed to revive intermittently, Zverev continued to dominate and left no chance for the El Palmar player, who could not defend himself against the German’s services. The world number two was not quite there and the German was setting the pace.
Alcaraz led at the beginning of the second round, adding points with his winning forehand and reacting quickly to the drop shots of the Hamburger, who continued without failing with the serve. The game was developed with a more recognizable Alcaraz, leaving behind the unquestionable dominance of the German. Despite everything, Zverev showed no signs of slowing down in his game and took the second set after breaking the Spaniard’s serve on two occasions.
In the third set, the world number six continued impeccable with his serves, while the Murcian, irregular, was unable to compose himself. The German was approaching the semi-finals when he made the score 5-2. But when everything seemed to fade, the reigning Wimbledon champion regained his composure and held out in the most key moments. When Alcaraz seemed to be going through his last moments in this Australian Open he was able to force the tie break to the joy of the public.
The epic had begun and the nerves were palpable in the stands. The Murcian was more recognizable in the tiebreaker and put Zverev on the ropes. Finally, he won the third set thanks to great passing and an aggressive and accurate forehand. He was still alive. However, the fourth round, although tense and very even between both competitors, ended up going to the German’s side, who broke Alcaraz’s serve at 4-4 and then did not fail with his own to explode with joy.
Alcaraz and Zverev had previously faced each other up to seven times, with the balance in favor of Zverev being 4 victories compared to 3 for Alcaraz. With this Wednesday’s result, Zverev scores another point in the tally, beating the Murcian for the fifth time.
After the victory in the quarterfinals, Zverev will compete in the semifinals with Daniil Medvedev, who beat the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (9) 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 in three hours and 59 minutes.
