This was published 2 years ago
Thanks so much for joining us tonight as Zverev beat Alcaraz to make his second semi-final appearance at the Australian Open.
We will be back tomorrow with another live blog and have more coverage overnight as we prepare for the semi-finals.
I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow, bye for now.
The Australian Open title race just swung right open.
Former world No.2 Alex Zverev produced his finest performance since before his gruesome ankle injury at the 2022 French Open to shockingly dump dual grand slam champion Carlos Alcaraz out of the tournament.
The German star, who is set to stand trial on domestic violence charges, put on a serving masterclass as he eliminated the second-seeded Spaniard 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 in their quarter-final to prevent the top four seeds filling out the semi-finals.
It was the first time Zverev defeated a top-five opponent in a grand slam.
Zverev has won a pulsating four-set match with Carlos Alcaraz at Rod Laver Arena.
While the contest went for more than three hours, Zverev almost had the match won inside two hours after sprint out to a two-set lead and have a break in the third - it was then that Alcaraz freed himself up from his struggles and began fighting back.
He won the third set in a tiebreak and threatened to break the German in the fourth but he couldn’t do it and Zverev pounced late in the set to break the No.2 seed and finish the job.
He let out a huge scream after such a hard-fought win.
Zverev has the break and he will be serving for the match.
Everything seemed like Alcaraz had lifted and this would be going deep into the fourth, now who knows?
One thing you can guarantee is that Alcaraz will do his all to keep this match alive.
Zverev is serving at 5-4 for the match.
It’s taken three hours but this match has turned into something amazing.
The two players have just traded ridiculous shots as Zverev fought off an attempt at a break from Alcaraz, he raised his hands to the crowd after winning the game as if to ask “what more can I do to beat this guy?”
Alcaraz is serving at 4-4 in the fourth set. This one feels like it is going to a tiebreak as well.
Alcaraz is serving once again with the fourth set evenly poised at 3-3.
Zverev just held serve despite the Spanish star coming up with a couple of cracking winners.
There is very little in this match but every “Carlito” point gets a roar and every “Sasha” point gets a cheer.
As we pass 12.30am local time on a Thursday morning, there are still around three quarters of the seats filled with fans.
That would have been planning to leave earlier, now they will be trying to stick around (or stay awake) as long as they can as Alcaraz looks like a wholly different player.
The two players have traded breaks of serve in the first two games of the fourth set.
It’s now just chaos with Alcaraz to serve next.
He looks like he believes he can still win this. And he can still win this.
The noise for his winning points is crazy loud as well.
Zverev had some medical treatment during the break, it looked to be for some blisters but I couldn’t see his foot properly, so he could have got some strapping as well.
They are back on court for the fourth set.
Just when you thought it was over, Alcaraz and his amazing supporter base have fired up.
Alcaraz has won the tiebreaker and now trails two sets to one.
More importantly, this crowd is raging like this is a Davis Cup tie or a World Cup soccer match.
Suddenly, every point is receiving a roar from his fans.
It started as some fun at the end of match, now people are invested again.
If Nadal can come back from two sets down to win the Australian Open, why can’t Alcaraz do it to make the semi-finals?
Alcaraz was down 0-2 but stormed back with some stunning passing shots to take a 4-2 lead.
As he took a drink at the change of ends, the fans at his new end all stood up to support him and cheer him on.