MELBOURNE, Australia (EFE).— Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, current world number one, took a historic step in his career by defeating Australian Alex De Miñaur by 7-5, 6-2 and 6-1, a result that allowed him to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time, leaving behind a barrier that had eluded him until now.
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Alcaraz, 22 years old, definitively broke through the barrier that had stopped him in the quarterfinals in previous editions, including last year’s, when he was eliminated by
Novak Djokovic. On this occasion, he arrived in Melbourne as the leader of the world ranking and with the firm determination to establish himself as one of the big favorites for the title.
With this advance, the tennis player from
El Palmar will leave the tournament reinforced as the world number one. He was defending points from the quarterfinals and is already in the semifinals, while
Jannik Sinner has no margin to improve his ranking score, which secures the Spaniard’s position no matter what happens from now on.
Semi-final match against Zverev
In the run-up to the final, Alcaraz will face German
Alexander Zverev, finalist of the Australian Open in 2025. Zverev reached the semifinals after defeating American
Learner Tien by 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 and 7-6(3), becoming the Spaniard’s last obstacle on the road to the title.
The triumph over De Miñaur was Alcaraz’s
sixth consecutive victory over the Australian in his professional career, on any surface. De Miñaur, sixth in the world, once again showed his fighting spirit, especially in the first set, where he sustained an intense exchange against the Spaniard, although he did not manage to break the adverse streak against the ranking leader.
Progressive mastery of the number one
The match began with a first set of constant alternatives. Alcaraz took an early lead of 3-0, but De Miñaur reacted to equalize 3-3 and later resisted when the Spaniard served to close the set. However, Alcaraz responded with authority on the return and sealed the set
7-5, a blow that ended up tilting the match in his favor.
From then on, the player from Murcia raised his level and controlled the second set with solid and aggressive tennis, closing it
6-2. In the third, he maintained the pace, broke his opponent’s serve early and advanced smoothly towards victory, while the Australian began to falter physically and in confidence.
Historic mark for Spanish tennis
This will be Alcaraz’s
first Australian Open semi-final, in his fifth tournament appearance and his twentieth Grand Slam played. With this, he becomes the
eighth Spaniard to reach the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam of the year, following in the footsteps of
Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Andrés Gimeno, Juan Gisbert, Carlos Moyá and Fernando Verdasco.
Furthermore, this represents Alcaraz’s
tenth Grand Slam semi-final in his career. At
22 years and 272 days old, the Spaniard aims to become the
second youngest player of the Open Era to reach that number, only behind Nadal, who achieved it at the 2009 Australian Open.
Alcaraz is also still in the running for historical records, including becoming the
youngest player to complete the men’s singles Grand Slam and the youngest in the Open Era to conquer
seven Grand Slam titles.
Featured Results in the Women’s Bracket
In the women’s bracket, world number one
Aryna Sabalenka secured her spot in the semifinals after a convincing victory over
Iva Jovic by
6-3 and 6-0. For her part, Ukrainian
Elina Svitolina surprised with a dominant performance against American
Coco Gauff, third in the ranking, winning by
6-1 and 6-2.
