Alcaraz Beats Zverev, Updated Australian Open Men's Tennis Bracket, Results

Carlos Alcaraz is one step away from completing the career grand slam after defeating Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a five-set thriller in an Australian Open semifinal that took more than five fours to complete on Friday.

The tightly-contested battle saw the top-seeded Alcaraz hold on to win after going up two sets. Zverev won the next two sets and held a 5-3 lead in the fifth before Alcaraz stormed back to win four straight games.

The match turned out to be a lot more dramatic than it seemed it was going to be.

After winning the first two sets, Alcaraz was up 5-4 in the third and was two points away from his fifth consecutive straight-set victory to start the tournament.

There was a moment in the third set when Zverev sounded off on the officials for granting Alcaraz a medical timeout when he appeared to be cramping on the court.

"He has cramp! He can't take a medical, he is cramping. What else should it be? This is absolute bulls--t! This is unbelievable," Zverev said on the court (h/t Jamie Braidwood of the Independent).

Alcaraz told reporters after the match it didn't feel like a cramp because the pain was confined only to his adductor muscle and he wanted to get it looked at.

Following the loss, Zverev was still unhappy about the medical timeout being granted but sounded more diplomatic about it in hindsight:

"He was cramping, so normally you can't take a medical timeout for cramping. What can I do? I didn't like it, but it's not my decision. But, to be honest, I don't want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia. It doesn't deserve to be the topic now."

The win sends Alcaraz to the Australian Open final for the first time in his career. His previous best finish at the event was back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in 2024 and 2025.

Alcaraz can become the youngest men's player of all-time to win the career grand slam if he wins on Sunday. Rafael Nadal currently holds the record in the Open Era, having completed the career grand slam at the age of 24.

Don Budge is the youngest player to win the men's career grand slam in any era, having completed it two days before his 23rd birthday in 1938. Alcaraz would be 22 years and 271 days old if he is able to win his next match.