Ailing Carlos Alcaraz edges Alexander Zverev in Australian semis

Slowed by cramps and seemingly about to bow out of the Australian Open, Carlos Alcaraz recovered to pull out a dramatic five-set win against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday in Melbourne.

Alcaraz led two sets to none before he was slowed by cramps late in the third set. He rebounded to continue to play but dropped the next two sets and fell a break behind in the fifth set.

Zverev served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but couldn't close out the win, and Alcaraz emerged with a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 win. The marathon lasted 5 hours, 27 minutes -- the third-longest match in Australian Open history.

"I always say that you have to believe in yourself, no matter what, no matter (how much) you're struggling, you've been through, no matter anything, you still ... gotta believe in yourself all the time," Alcaraz said on court postmatch. "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. ...

"But I've been in these kind of 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."

The other finalist will be the winner of the second semifinal featuring the two-time defending champion, second-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy, and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard who is the top seed, reached a fourth consecutive Grand Slam final -- though he is in the final at Melbourne for the first time. The six-time major champion improved to 60-0 in majors when winning the first two sets.

He will try to become the youngest player ever to win all four Grand Slam events.

"I'm just really, really happy to have the (opportunity) to play my first final here in Melbourne," Alcaraz said. "This is something that I was pursuing a lot, chasing a lot, having the chance to fight for the title."

Zverev, a 28-year-old German who was seeded third, is still in search of his first major championship. He lost in the 2020 U.S. Open final, the 2024 French Open final and the 2025 Australian Open final.

Alcaraz began cramping in the second set, and his movement became greatly restricted in the third set, though twice he was two points away from winning the match.

At one point, he vomited into his towel on a changeover. Alcaraz ultimately was granted a medical timeout, much to the frustration of Zverev, who argued vociferously about it with the chair umpire and a tournament supervisor.

The rules allow for a timeout for an injury but not for cramping. Alcaraz received treatment on both thighs, leading to the belief that the issue was cramps and not an ailment.

Alcaraz barely moved while losing the third-set tiebreaker. His running gradually improved through the fourth set, though Zverev leveled the match by taking another tiebreaker.

Zverev went up for the first time in the match when he broke serve to open the fifth set. He shook off two break points to go up 3-1, and saved another break point to lead 4-2 and again erased two break points for a 5-3 advantage.

Alcaraz finally broke back when Zverev was serving for the match at 5-4, then broke on Zverev's next service game to end it.