Carlos Alcaraz has charged into the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in his career with a dominant 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory over local favourite Alex de Minaur, keeping his bid for a career Grand Slam alive at Melbourne Park.
The 22-year-old swapped extravagance for efficiency at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Tuesday to extinguish the hopes of sixth-seeded de Minaur, who was aiming to end a five-decade Australian wait for a homegrown men’s champion at the tournament.
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Six-time major winner Alcaraz broke de Minaur early to take a 3-0 lead, but his retooled serve came under scrutiny in the fifth game when he faced three break points.
De Minaur retrieved relentlessly and broke back to level before recovering another break in the ninth game and delighting the centre court crowd by holding in the next, but some loose points allowed Alcaraz to edge a gripping opening set.
Alcaraz began the second set as he did the first, and the top seed was in no mood to let the advantage slip this time, hitting two rasping backhand crosscourt winners to go ahead 5-2 and tighten his grip on the match.
A deflated de Minaur surrendered serve early in the third set, and Alcaraz did not look back, wrapping up the victory and securing a clash with the third seed, Alexander Zverev.
“I’m just really happy how I’m playing every match. Each round, my level is increasing,” Alcaraz said in a warning to his rivals.
“Today I felt really comfortable, playing great tennis that I am really proud of.”
Earlier, German Zverev sent down 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Learner Tien of the United States to book his last-four spot.
“I have seen him throughout the whole tournament, and I know he is playing great, aggressive tennis,” Alcaraz said of Zverev.
“I have to be ready – not just me but my whole team as well.
“We need to play tactically really well. It’s going to be a great battle.”
The other two quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday when 10-time Melbourne champion Novak Djokovic will face Italy’s fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti.
The winner will face either two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner or eighth-seeded American Ben Shelton in the semifinals.
Svitolina hopes Gauff upset brings ‘a little light’ to Ukraine
Elina Svitolina said she hopes her stunning upset of third-seeded Coco Gauff will bring “a little light” to her fellow Ukrainians during a bitter winter under attack by Russia.
The 31-year-old trounced the American 6-1, 6-2 to set up a semifinal against Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
Like other Ukrainian players, Svitolina does not shake hands with opponents from Russia and Moscow’s ally Belarus.
“For my country, it’s great,” she said of her sweeping victory over Gauff.
“It’s, of course, very close to my heart to see a lot of support from Ukrainians, and lots of people get to know tennis in Ukraine, which is great, because right now, it’s very – one of the toughest winters for Ukrainian people without electricity and everything.
“So I feel, like, bring this light, a little light, just positive news to Ukrainian people, to my friends when they are watching my matches. It’s a great feeling for me.”
Many Ukrainians have been without electricity and heating in freezing temperatures as Russia has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, particularly in winter, throughout the nearly four-year war.
A decade older than Gauff, the former world number three Svitolina was playing her 14th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
She had managed to press on to the semis only three times before and never in Australia.
“Very, very pleased with the tournament so far,” said Svitolina, who is on a 10-match winning streak after a title-winning run at Auckland this month.
Making the semifinals will propel her back into the top 10.
“It’s always been my dream to come back after maternity leave to make the top 10. Always been my goal,” she said.
“It means the world to me.”
Two-time Grand Slam champion Gauff’s serve deserted her, and she was broken four times in the first set and twice in the second to leave her title aspirations in tatters.
She won just 41 percent of her first service points while committing 19 unforced errors.
Gauff suffered from serving issues throughout the tournament and was broken immediately.
Svitolina, with husband Gael Monfils watching on, failed to capitalise and conceded her serve as well, but Gauff then sent down two double faults at crucial moments to be broken yet again.
Clearly flustered, she was broken for a third time, to love, as the Ukrainian raced to 5-1 with a fifth double fault of the match, gifting Svitolina another break and the set in 29 minutes.
Gauff summoned a ball kid, asked for three racquets to be restrung and left the court for a toilet break after the first-set annihilation.
But it didn’t help. She was broken for a fifth straight time to open set two.
She finally managed to hold on her sixth attempt, but there was no way back.
It is the first time Svitolina has reached the last four in Melbourne after quarterfinal runs in 2018, 2019 and 2025.