Carlos Alcaraz is two wins away from claiming a career Grand Slam at the Australian Open after disposing of home hope Alex de Minaur in straight sets.
The top seed overcame some serving blips and early resistance from de Minaur before easing to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory on the Rod Laver Arena. Yet to drop a set in the tournament, Alcaraz’s latest performance featured 26 winners and he won 77% of his first service points. On top of that, he converted seven out of 16 break points.
Despite his various achievements in the sport, Alcaraz’s latest win has created two new milestones in his career. It is the first time he has beaten a top 10 player at the Australian Open after losing in his three previous attempts. Furthermore, he is through to his maiden semi-final at Melbourne Park, which is his 10th in a Grand Slam overall.
“I’m really happy with the way that I’m playing every match. Since the first round until now, my level has been increasing every match, which I’m really happy about.” Said Alcaraz.
“Playing against someone like Alex, it’s always really difficult. You have to be really focused on every ball. You have to win the point almost three, four times.” He added.
The top seed headed into the showdown high in confidence, considering his record against de Minaur, whom he never lost to on the Tour and dropped only one set in their first five meetings. However, the home favourite pushed Alcaraz heavily in the opener by battling back from a break down twice with the use of his athletic speed around the court. Then serving at 5-6, de Minaur fended off three set points when down 0-40 before succumbing on his fourth by hitting a shot that tapped the net and landed out.
Gaining momentum on the court, Alcaraz required 44 minutes to race through the second set, which he started by winning three games in a row. He nearly lost this advantage when facing a break point at 4-2, but held his nerve to keep his stronghold. Much to the annoyance of his opponent, who was visibly frustrated with the deep returns being hit to him.
In full flow, Alcaraz closed out proceedings with relative ease as his opponent grew more and more despondent. De Minaur was playing a top-five player at a Grand Slam for the 10th time in his career, with his record now standing at one win against nine losses.
At around 10:45pm local time, Alcaraz sealed his first match point by firing a serve outside that triggered a mistake from his opponent. Victory was then sealed with an ace out wide.
Among those cheering Alcaraz on were his brother, father and uncle. The Spaniard admits players joke with him that he could form his own football team with the number of members he has in his camp. However, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I need my people around me. They are the reason that I play such great tennis, because off the court they make me feel great, like I’m at home every time.” He said.
“I’m really proud to see my dad because this experience and living these kinds of things was his dream when he was playing tennis. I’m really happy to see him making history with me.”
Standing in Alcaraz’s way of the final is Alexander Zverev, with whom he is tied at 6-6 in their head-to-head. The German, who is chasing after his maiden title at a major event, has dropped a set in four out of five matches played in this year’s draw.
“I’ve seen Sasha through the whole tournament. I know he’s playing great tennis,” Alcaraz commented.
“He’s serving pretty well as well. So I have to be ready. We were practising in the week before the tournament began, and he beat me 7-6.
“We’ve got to be ready. Not only me, but my team as well. It’s going to be a great battle. I’m really looking forward to playing him again.”
At the age of 22, Alcaraz is the second-youngest man to reach 10 Grand Slam semi-finals in the Open Era after Rafael Nadal.
