Alexander Zverev has suffered yet more Grand Slam heartache after losing his Australian Open semifinal with Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz beat Zverev in five sets at Rod Laver Arena, where he will return for an Australian Open final against either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic.
The Spanish superstar beat the German ace 6-4, 7-6(7-5), 6-7(3-7), 6-7(4-7), 7-5, with Alcaraz and Zverev playing the longest Australian Open semifinal ever.
Fans in Melbourne were treated to five hours and 27 minutes of thrilling action, during which Alcaraz suffered from cramps.
Zverev was furious with the umpire as Alcaraz received treatment for the issue, before recovering to win the Australian Open epic.
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The outcome represents a first Melbourne final for Alcaraz, and another missed Grand Slam opportunity for Zverev.
His shortcomings have now been discussed in detail on TNT Sports, where Jamie Murray said: “I don’t think Zverev went about the situation in terms of how he went about exploiting Alcaraz’s deficiencies in that moment.
“He didn’t put his foot on the gas and really take it to him and say, I have been given a gift from the Gods and I am going to make the most of it.
“He didn’t really play his way into the match. It was just the fact that Alcaraz was really struggling that the scores turned. But it’s only for him to understand why he went about his tennis in that way in that moment.”
Tim Henman noted: “I think when Alcaraz is struggling so much we were watching and you are thinking how should Zverev be playing? You are thinking he has to make him move.
“But he kept serving to his forehand and Alcaraz is just standing there having big cuts. He was never going back behind.
“He did play a couple of drop shots. But Alcaraz didn’t want to run. And once he got that third set it gave Zverev a bit of breathing room and then it was a bit more of a chess game as to how quickly Alcaraz could recover.”
CoCo Vandeweghe added: “I could not believe how passive Zverev was in the third set moving into the fourth.
“When you see someone struggling that much and as players we have all seen that and thought if I just push them a bit more maybe they will pull the rip cord.
“We know Alcaraz has unbelievable belief, he showed it today. But for Sascha I think he could have gone about the next two sets where it gives Carlos no life.
“And on top of that you don’t give the crowd any life. You silence the crowd, you silence Carlos and we could be talking about a very different situation right now.”
And Murray concluded: “If the roles were reversed it would have looked completely different. If it was Sascha that was cramping we would have seen a very different game style from Alcaraz. He would have made him pay, he would have made him suffer.”
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Australian Open epic highlights big difference between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev
The Australian Open semifinal thriller showcased various intriguing aspects of Alcaraz, Zverev and indeed tennis itself.
But one prominent feature was Alcaraz’s spirit and determination, with the ATP number one simply never giving up, even with his injury woes.
While the German was left frustrated by the Spaniard’s cramping, the eventual winner didn’t let his emotions get the better of him.
He even used them to his advantage, rousing the Rod Laver crowd at key stages of the match, particularly when he looked down and out.
Zverev certainly deserves credit for the epic battle, but Alcaraz showed his true champion spirit and exactly why he already has six Grand Slam titles at the age of 22.
In contrast, the German has fallen short once more on the biggest stage, with his failures to get over the line when it matters typified by three defeats from his three career Grand Slam finals.
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