Zverev overcomes battle of wits to snuff out Alcaraz

CARLOS ALCARAZ was left stunned as Alexander Zverev sent him crashing out of the Australian Open - just as he threatened a midnight comeback.

- Yasmin Syed and Neil McLeman

German Zverev triumphed 6-1 6-3 6-7 6-4 to book a semifinal date tomorrow with Daniil Medvedev.

Such has been the dominance of Spaniard Alcaraz that losing this quarter-final clash was the world No.2's earliest Grand Slam exit in 18 months.

Zverev looked unstoppable in the first two sets and just after midnight, he was serving for a straight sets win when Alcaraz broke for the first time.

The Wimbledon champion got back to 5-5 and won the last seven points of the tiebreak to make it 2-1.

After an exchange of service breaks to open the fourth and some incredible rallies, Zverev had another chance after breaking in the ninth game.