For the second time in as many Grand Slams, Carlos Alcaraz was bested before the final, and this time, Alexander Zverev outplayed him at the 2024 Australian Open.
The first time was at the US Open a few months ago, where he lost his match against Daniil Medvedev. Everybody expected the Spaniard to win, but he didn't, and it bothered him a lot, judging by the comments he made after that match.
Calling himself immature is quite a statement. This match was eerily similar to that one. You couldn't help but feel that Alcaraz was not taking this as seriously as he should have.
Almost as if beating Zverev was something he was going to do without any problems. Truthfully, there were some indicators that it might happen. He spent five hours less on the court, looked more impressive in his matches, and had some good wins against the German in the past.
He did lose their most recent match, and he lost this one, too. Problems arose pretty early in this match as Zverev jumped out to an early lead. Alcaraz struggled to keep the ball in play, sailing far too many balls wide.
The German served well, which allowed him to cruise through his games, and it was just the perfect cocktail for Zverev to make him believe that he could truly do this. His confidence rose sharply after the first set.
Things didn't work out so well for Alcaraz in the second set either, even though he finally managed to get himself to some break points. Zverev's service allowed him to save them, and it was costly for the Spaniard.
Not long after that, the German broke his opponent once more, and the set was gone. Zverev was tremendous. This wasn't just Alcaraz not being very good and struggling but more so the German doing everything right.
Finding a historic serving performance, even by his standards, certainly helped. The third set was a crazy one as Zverev was up 5-3 and serving for the match but then got broken with some incredible play by Alcaraz.
It would continue for the Spaniard as he played a sensational tiebreak to win it 7-2 and further complicate this match. The final set opened with Alcaraz losing his serve but then breaking back immediately.
He would continue playing well but ultimately lose his serve late in the set to give the German a chance to close it out. It wasn't easy again, as it was 30-30, but Zverev got himself to a match point, and a good serve converted it.
The final score was 6-1 6-3 6-7(2) 6-4, for Zverev and the first he beat a Top 5 ranked player at a Grand Slam.
Alexander Zverev vs Carlos Alcaraz Match Stats:
| Alexander Zverev | 6-1 6-3 6-7(2) 6-4 | Carlos Alcaraz |
| 7 | Aces | 6 |
| 1 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 85% | First Serve % | 68% |
| 73% (69/94) | Points Won After First Serve % | 67% (53/79) |
| 47% (8/17) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 42% (16/38) |
| 70% (7/10) | Break Point Conversion | 40% (2/5) |
| 28 | Winners | 39 |
| 25 | Unforced Errors | 45 |
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