In these first few years of his young career, Carlos Alcaraz has relished making the near impossible seem routine. He has performed at such a high level so consistently, learned from his mistakes at warp speed and, even when he has struggled badly, so often he has somehow found a way through.
This time, he could not. Despite a spirited comeback at the death, a pitiful start from the second seed left him with far too much to do against Alexander Zverev, who maintained a high level across four sets and held on in a tough fourth set to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 and reach the semi-final of the Australian Open.
