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Welcome to the Australian Open briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On Day 13, the men’s semifinals took center stage as a tournament of almost no tension delivered a dramatic spectacle for the ages.
Why was Alexander Zverev furious – and then philosophical?
Alexander Zverev spent the first two sets and eight games of his Australian Open semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz seemingly feeling nothing. Bar some anger at his coaching box over the way his racket was strung, the world No. 3 was even-keeled, whether he was lashing a backhand down the line for a winner or missing a simple volley wide to gift Alcaraz a chance at winning the second-set tiebreak, which he gratefully accepted.
But then Alcaraz started grabbing at his right leg between points at 4-4 in the third set. He was squatting and moving stiffly. He had vomited twice earlier in the set. He was, it turned out, cramping — but because the pain was localized to his right adductor muscle to start with, he thought he had suffered an injury.
After holding serve to go up 5-4, he sat on his bench. A trainer came out. They conversed. The trainer conversed with the chair umpire. A medical timeout began.
And Zverev’s emotions finally came out.
He exploded in anger, arguing that Alcaraz was suffering from cramp, and so should not have been able to take one.
“He has cramps. What else should it be? This is absolute bulls–t. That is unbelievable. That can not be. You can not be serious. You protect the both of them. It’s unbelievable,” he said in German to the supervisor.
Alexander Zverev felt Carlos Alcaraz should not have received treatment during their semifinal. (Izhar Khan / AFP via Getty Images)
In his post-match news conference, Zverev said he didn’t want “one of the best battles there ever was in Australia” to be overshadowed by the incident. He did say though that Alcaraz “was cramping, so normally you can’t take a medical timeout for cramping. What can I do? It’s not my decision. I didn’t like it, but it’s not my decision.”
Suffering from cramp is not grounds for a medical timeout. Players are instead allowed to treat cramps at three changeovers maximum, each of which last for a 60-second sitdown.
The rulebook states: “A player may receive treatment for muscle cramping only during the time allotted for change of ends and / or set breaks. Players may not receive a medical timeout for muscle cramping. In cases where there is doubt about whether the player suffers from an acute medical condition, non-acute medical condition inclusive of muscle cramping, or non-treatable medical condition, the decision of the sports physiotherapist, in conjunction with the tournament doctor, if appropriate, is final.
“If the sports physiotherapist believes that the player has heat illness, and if muscle cramping is one of the manifestations of heat illness, then the muscle cramping may only be treated as part of the recommended treatment by the sports physiotherapist for the heat illness condition.”
However, even if a player appears to be suffering from cramps, they might have suffered a muscular injury — as Alcaraz feared after pulling up.
The handbook goes on to add: “A player who has stopped play by claiming an acute medical condition but is determined by the sports physiotherapist and / or tournament doctor to have muscle cramping, shall be ordered by the chair umpire to resume play immediately.”
In his news conference, Alcaraz said that the pain he was experiencing led him to believe that he had a muscle injury. He told the trainer this, who deemed that he could receive a medical timeout as a result. It appears that Alcaraz was wrong, as he said in the same news conference that he had not suffered an injury.
But the sensations at the time were not false. Indeed, the physio who treated Alcaraz did not determine him to only have been cramping.
— Eduardo Tansley and Charlie Eccleshare
How did Carlos Alcaraz resurrect himself?
Later, when the cramps spread, Alcaraz chugged pickle juice and water to replenish electrolytes and restore himself. He conserved energy at the end of the third set, especially once he lost the chance to break Zverev’s serve to win the match.
He did it again in the fourth, serving for the lines, blasting winners, and not over-committing on lost causes or running for balls that he could not turn into point-enders, That led to some comical points, including one that Alcaraz won in part by hitting an overhead backhand flick, because he could not move to the ball in time or with enough dexterity to do anything else.
This helped Alcaraz find his energy down the stretch in the fifth set. Arguably more importantly, it also sapped Zverev’s. In his news conference, the German said he either had to win the second set — played pre-cramps — or win the third and fourth sets quickly to have a chance. Instead, Alcaraz’s recovery time became Zverev’s downfall. By the time he stood at the baseline, up 5-4 in the fifth set and serving for a remarkable win, his legs had gone. He could not push off the ground. When Zverev floated a backhand long to give Alcaraz the break of serve that saved the match for him, he bent down on his racket and looked up in disbelief.
He wouldn’t win another game. With a whipped forehand pass that Zverev could only net, Alcaraz seized a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 win to move himself one match from the Career Grand Slam.
— Charlie Eccleshare
After 12 days of tennis stupor, finally a day of chaos
Deep into the night session on Day 13 of the Australian Open, the tournament was gripped by something it had lacked for almost a fortnight: tension.
Novak Djokovic was in monster mode on Rod Laver Arena, spot-serving Jannik Sinner off the court, pinning the two-time champion in the light blue behind the baseline and going through his full repertoire of exertion-induced showmanship. The 10-time Australian Open champion even found time to vomit at least twice into a towel, just as Alcaraz had done earlier in his semifinal.
The crowd roared for Djokovic as only Melbourne Park does, through every curling ace and blasted forehand. In between them, especially after the first two sets, Djokovic celebrated, roared, keeled, stumbled, stretched, and limbered his way around Rod Laver Arena. He slammed forehand after backhand after forehand into the corners, roping Sinner from side to side, drawing errors from everywhere. Sinner, 14 years his junior, was flummoxed. Sinner, who had beaten him five times in a row, was unable to stem the tide. Djokovic won in five sets, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to move one major away from another record in the greatest career the men’s game has ever seen.
Hours earlier, Alcaraz had appeared to be heading for a routine win over Zverev. That’s basically the story of the tournament: higher seed wins, mostly easily, tension dissipates into air. Instead, there was the cramping for Alcaraz, which he initially thought was a bad muscle injury. There was Zverev berating the supervisor for “protecting” Alcaraz and Sinner.
Jannik Sinner could not stave off a vintage version of Novak Djokovic. (William West / AFP via Getty Images)
And then came two tiebreaks, a fifth set in which Alcaraz got broken early, and game after game in which he threatened to break back but wasted his chances. On the last chance, with Zverev serving for the match, he finally tempered the over-eager misses and patiently earned a ball that he could crack into Zverev’s backhand. As the reply floated long, the crowd and Alcaraz rose as one. Zverev was finished, physically spent, as he admitted in his news conference.
After zero five-set matches on the Australian Open’s biggest court all tournament, two arrived at once.
Now, Alcaraz and Djokovic will meet in pursuit of history, the day after Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina play a women’s final involving the two most destructive, impressive and in-form players in women’s tennis right now. After 12 days of excellence from top players, but little in the way of in-match tension or drama, the 13th finally saw fireworks: nine, near-uninterrupted hours of thrilling high-wire sport.
The accepted wisdom in tennis that quiet first weeks pay off with monstrous second ones. At this year’s Australian Open, the payoff was just about as delayed as it gets — but that didn’t make it feel any less powerful.
— James Hansen
Shot of the day
There were better, more remarkable shots, but sometimes a moment is too great to ignore. Carlos Alcaraz, everybody:
Drop Shots
🛑 How a hindrance call briefly angered Aryna Sabalenka during her semifinal — and what the rule says.
🪓 Emma Raducanu splits with coach Francis Roig after less than six months.
🧊 How Elena Rybakina stayed cool under pressure from Jessica Pegula to reach the final…
🐅 And how Sabalenka cruised past Elina Svitolina to meet her there.
🙁 Why even a slate of men’s semifinals with the top four players in the world felt somewhat underwhelming.
Up next: Finals
🎾 Women’s singles: Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Elena Rybakina (5)
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Unlimited
The two most dominant players on tour right now meet in a final of comparable gamestyles and oppositional personalities. Sabalenka has added soft ways to win points to her sledgehammer serve and forehand, while Rybakina’s devastatingly languid serve and groundstrokes are more scalpel-like. For Sabalenka, this is an opportunity to prove that she can bring her best tennis to big finals, having lost two of three at Grand Slams last year. For Rybakina, it’s an opportunity to rubberstamp her status as a force at the top of tennis once more.
🎾 Women’s doubles: Aleksandra Krunić / Anna Danilina (7) vs. Elise Mertens / Zhang Shuai (4)
8 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Aleksandra Krunić and Anna Danilina let the competition know they were serious when they bageled No. 1 seed Kateřina Siniaková and Taylor Townsend in the final set of their quarterfinal. Then they took down Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani, a new but elite pairing made of up WTA Tour Finals doubles regulars. Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai came close to a shock exit against teenage singles talents Iva Jović and Victoria Mboko early on, but have since regrouped and will provide one last stern test for the No. 7 seed.
🎾 Women’s wheelchair singles: Xiaohui Li (3) vs. Diede de Groot
Not before 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Li Xiaohui reached this final by beating Yui Kamiji, when most players who beat Yui Kamiji are doing so in order to win a title. Her reward is facing another living legend of women’s wheelchair tennis in Diede de Groot, who has won 23 major singles titles and once went 145 matches and three years without losing. The Dutch player has not won a major since the 2024 Australian Open, but Li will be fully aware of how dangerous she is.
🎾 Men’s doubles: Jason Kubler / Marc Polmans (WC) vs. Christian Harrison / Neal Skupski (6)
Not before 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Australian wild cards just love Australian Open doubles events, and Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans are no exception in 2026. Kubler came off a run through singles qualifying to join up with his compatriot, and in the final they face two stalwarts of the tour who knocked out No. 3 seed Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos to get here.
🎾 Men’s wheelchair singles: Martín de la Puente (3) vs. Tokito Oda (2)
Not before 12 a.m. ET on ESPN+
Tokito Oda is 19. He is probably a men’s wheelchair tennis great already. The Japanese player’s seven major titles — and his rivalry with Alfie Hewett of the UK — have defined the past few years in the sport. Martín de la Puente, who cites Rafael Nadal as his tennis idol, is one of the players trying to muscle in on their turf. Oda is overwhelming favorite for this match, despite their closeness in seeding, so if de la Puente can pull off an upset he may start another chapter in the sport’s history.
Australian Open men’s draw 2026
Australian Open women’s draw 2026
Tell us what you noticed on the 13th day…
