Melbourne (Australia), Jan 30 (EFE).- An epic Carlos Alcaraz who overcame the physical collapse he suffered in the second set, managed to defeat the German Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4) and 7-5 to reach, for the first time in his career, the final of the Australian Open which he will play on Sunday against the winner of the match between the current champion, the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Serbian Novak Djokovic.

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The 22-year-old Spaniard drew on epicness and experience to overcome the physical slump he went through in the third set, in which he vomited on the court and suffered cramps that complicated his movements and stopped the German’s comeback, who was physically better.

Alcaraz: “I’ve achieved it by believing”

Alcaraz was happy, exultant, after reaching the final of the Australian Open for the first time and vying for the seventh Grand Slam of his career. “Believe” (believe), wrote the Murcian in the court camera after closing a historic victory of five hours and 26 minutes that he had won and then lost and that he finally took by defeating the German Alexander Zverev. “I did it by believing. I’ve always said that you have to believe in yourself, no matter how much it’s costing you. It was costing me a lot in the middle of the third set,” said the Spanish player on the court.

“It’s been one of the toughest physically in my entire career, but I’ve been in this situation before. I knew what I had to do. I had to put my heart in. Fight. I am very proud of the way I fought,” added the six-time Grand Slams winner.

«I have cramps down to the last hair on my head»

And the Murcian survived a roller coaster to extend his precocious legend. Alcaraz was attended twice by the physiotherapists but there was not enough improvement to face the German, who saw a new opportunity, a different panorama and who went in search of a lost match.

“I have cramps up to my little finger, up to the last hair on my head,” Alcaraz said to his ‘box’. Samu López, his coach, encouraged him: “You’ll be fine in a little while.” The Spaniard was heading for the final. In the first two sets he showed his superiority and his great moment.

Zverev was resigned to his fate, against the ropes, without solutions. It was then that the alarms went off. It seemed like any other situation until his game dropped radically. From ten to zero in a moment. He was looking for a comfortable position for his body at any moment, stretching his legs. The German tennis player complained to the chair umpire about the attention. “It’s not usual to attend to a player for cramps. It’s not an injury,” he said.

A Matter of Faith

The match went to the fourth set. It was only natural. The German won the tiebreaker in the third and the match exceeded three hours. For the first time in the competition, the Murcian player dropped a set. He had had an impeccable run up to the semi-final, untouchable. Then, he stood waiting for a physical comeback that was taking too long, that wasn’t coming. The final, which he had in his hand, was slipping away.

And the final partial arrived. The fifth. No one had ever come back from two sets against the number one in the world, who had won fourteen of the fifteen matches he had played in all the partials. But from the start and with a double fault, Alcaraz lost his serve, and his outlook became increasingly clouded. It was a matter of faith. Of a miracle. Alcaraz’s recovery arrived, he returned to the match, he started running again, he relied on his legs, his enthusiasm and his desire. He saw himself defeated and resurrected. He had faith. A great champion.