Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Australian Open by Alexander Zverev late into the Melbourne night on Wednesday in a thrilling, undulating contest.
An out-of-sorts Alcaraz looked to be heading for a limp exit when two sets and a break down to his German opponent.
But he recovered from 5-2 behind, forced a tiebreak, which he won, but was then broken late into the fourth set in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 loss.
The result and the level of Zverev's performance only further backed up the quality of Cameron Norrie's display in the preceding, fourth round having taken the No6 seed to five sets.
Alcaraz had been the marked favourite going into the match with Zverev already having come through two energy-sapping five-set marathons.
But the Spaniard was completely outplayed by Zverev, who barely put a foot wrong, while Alcaraz’s own performance was somewhat lacklustre by comparison as he fell 6-1, 6-3, 5-2 behind.
It had been anticipated by many that Alcaraz was on a collision course for a repeat of his classic Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic.
And he briefly threatened to edge closer to that possibility with a stunning turnaround by breaking Zverev and dominating the tiebreak. The contest ebbed and flowed in the fourth set but it was the older player who got the break and then served for the match.
Zverev will now battle it out for a place in the final with Daniil Medvedev still to overcome in the semi-finals. Djokovic, meanwhile, faces Jannik Sinner in the other semi-final.
Following the win, Zverev, who enjoyed a staggeringly high first serve percentage of 85 per cent, said: “I'm playing one of the best players in the world. He's won two grand slams. When you're up 6-1, 6-3, 5-2, you start thinking. We're all human.
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"Then when you're so close to winning your brain starts going, which is not always helpful. But I fought back in the end and didn't let go. I was very happy to finish the match."
