AO 2026 | WATCH: Moment when Alcaraz's win vs Zverev in semis became almost certain on road to final

Carlos Alcaraz has entered his maiden Australian Open final after winning the tournament history's longest semi-final on Friday (Jan 30) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Alcaraz won the first set against Alxander Zverev and came back from 2-5 down to win the second set as well. He then got cramps, lost his two-set advantage but eventually came out as winner in the five-set thriller. In the final set, he was down 15-30 in the sixth game and then scored the point of the match. He immediately geatured towards the crowd as if he knew that he was going to win the match and he did in the end. Alcaraz came out winner, the youngest to reach AO final in open era history, beating Zverev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in the 5-hour 27 minutes long match.

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Alcaraz gets crowd going with point of the match

The Spaniard had already lost his two-set advantage after Zverev won the third and fourth set and the German was up 3-2 in the final set as well. Alcaraz was down 15-30 in the sixth game of the deciding set when he played the 'point of the match.' Have a look at the point and Alcaraz's reaction below:

The 5-and-half hour thriller saw three sets going to the tie-breaker except first and last one, highlighting the epic battler fans and the crowd witnessed. Alcaraz will now be looking to win his first AO title and become the youngest to complete the career grand slam, having already won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US open twice each.

Alcaraz's road to maiden AO final

Alcaraz, top seed at the Australian Open 2026, started his campaign with win over Adam Walton in the firs round on Jan 18. He beat Yannick Hanfmann in the second round on Jan 21 and Corentin Moutet in the third round on Jan 23. The Spaniard overcame Tommy Paul in the fourth round on Jan 25 before beating Alex de Minaur in the QF. All his wins before the semi vs Zverev came in straight sets - without dropping a set. In the semis, he beat German Zverev in an epic five-set battle. Below are Alcaraz's scores from each match on his road to final:

• Alcaraz beat Walton 6-3, 7(7)-6(2), 6-2 in Round 1
• Alcaraz beat Hanfmann 7(7)-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 in Round 2
• Alcaraz beat Moutet 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in Round 3
• Alcaraz beat Paul 7(8)-6(6), 6-4, 7-5 in Round 4
• Alcaraz beat de Minaur 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 in QF
• Alcaraz beat Zverev 6-4, 7(7)-6(5), 6(3)-7(7), 6(4)-7(7), 7-5 in SF

He will now play winner of Novak Djokovic vs Jannik Sinner for his maiden Australian Open title on Sunday (Feb 1). Sinner is two-time defending champion of the tournament while Djokovic is a 10-time AO champion - making the final not at all easy for Alcaraz.