Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he was “struggling” after the Spaniard survived a Alexander Zverev scare in a five-set thriller to march into his maiden Australian Open final on Friday at the Rod Laver Arena. Alcaraz, who fought a leg issue, delivered despite losing two sets to win 6-4, 7-6(7-5), 6-7(3-7), 6-7(4-7), 7-5 to keep his Australian Open dreams alive.
After winning the first two sets, Alcaraz experienced a leg issue during the third set, which the top set lost in a tiebreak. Alcaraz also took a medical time out (MTO), which frustrated Zverev. The German third seed was also caught venting his frustration out to a match official.
Despite his leg issue, Alcaraz relied on his sublime ball-striking and placement to land winners to force a decider fifth set. After the game, Alcaraz admitted that it was the most demanding matches he has ever played in his whole career so far.
“Believing all the time,” said Alcaraz when asked how did he turn the game on his head. “I always say that you have to believe in yourself no matter what struggles you’re going through. You got to still believe in yourself all the time. I was struggling in the middle of the third set
“Physically it was one of the most demanding matches I’ve ever played in my short career. But I’ve been in these kind of matches before so I knew what I had to do. I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought til the last ball. I knew I would have my chances. I was patient in the fifth set,” added Alcaraz.
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