Carlos Alcaraz (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Melbourne: Carlos Alcaraz lay on his back on the blue carpet of the Rod Laver Arena as he soaked up the applause of the big crowd. He fought with everything he had for five hours and 27 minutes, limping on one leg, holding onto the ground and refusing to succumb to convulsions during a dramatic Australian Open semi-final. On a warm Melbourne evening, the 22-year-old Spaniard was on the edge of a cliff for several hours, balancing and hanging on by a thread he called faith. There may have been two legs to Friday’s first semi-final, but there was always only one winner, simply because of the way Alcaraz fought. The opening stages of the last-four clash stretched to almost three hours, during which Alcaraz, the world number one, built a two-set-to-love lead and looked set to wrap up the match in straight sets midway through the third. Then the cramps hit. Alexander Zverev, the world number three, managed the delicate task of taking on an injured opponent while still holding his end of the match with stoic determination. The 28-year-old German evened the match and won 5:3 in the fifth set, and at 5:4 she even served to advance to the final. But Alcaraz, lifted by a crowd of 15,000 chanting “Carlitos, Carlitos,” found the final surge. He played four consecutive games to book his first finals appearance at Melbourne Park. The Spaniard, who will face Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s title match, is now one win away from becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. In the end, seeded Alcaraz beat Zverev 6:4, 7:6 (5), 6:7 (3), 6:7 (4), 7:5 in the longest semifinal in the history of the Australian Open. Alcaraz lost just two of his 29 service games and hit 78 winners. However, the statistic of the match was the total number of points scored: Alcaraz scored 200, Zverev was only six behind. “I believe,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview when asked how he won the match. “You have to believe in yourself, no matter if you’re struggling or what you’ve been through. You still have to believe in yourself.” “I struggled in the middle of the third set. Physically, it was one of the most demanding matches I’ve played in my short career,” he added. “I just hate giving up. When I was younger, there were a lot of fights I didn’t want to fight anymore and I gave up. Then I grew up and I just hate that feeling,” explained the Spaniard. “Every step more, just a second more suffering, a second more fight is always worth it. That’s why I fight to the last ball and always believe that I can come back in every situation.” Alcaraz appeared to cramp while serving at 4-4 in the third set. He took a medical timeout but could do little when Zverev returned to the match. Zverev, who said he was exhausted and had nothing to give in the fifth set, was angry that Alcaraz was allowed to take a medical time-out when the world number one was cramping. Players are not entitled to a medical timeout solely for cramping. “This is f*#king bulls%*t,” the German raged on court. “It’s unbelievable that he’s being treated with convulsions,” he argued. Alcaraz explained that he felt the cramping come on in the third set, but since it was just one particular muscle (the right adductor), he didn’t think it was the cramping at the beginning. “That’s why I called the physical therapist. I just talked to him and he decided to take a medical time out,” Alcaraz said.
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