Carlos Alcaraz crushed home hopes with victory over Alex de Minaur to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time.<\/p>\n
De Minaur was playing in his seventh grand slam quarter-final and second in a row at Melbourne Park, but the belief he could perhaps make it further for the first time evaporated as Alcaraz powered to a 7-5 6-2 6-1 victory.<\/p>\n
The world number one had fallen on both his previous visits to the last eight, including to Novak Djokovic 12 months ago, but the same outcome never looked likely here, with Alcaraz now two victories away from becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.<\/p>\n
There are still big hurdles ahead, with Alexander Zverev next, and quite probably his major rival Jannik Sinner in the final, but Alcaraz’s progress so far is mightily impressive, with the Spaniard yet to drop a set.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m just really happy with the way that I\u2019m playing every match,” said Alcaraz. “I was increasing my level every match, which I\u2019m really happy about. After the first match my team told me to be patient. Today I felt really comfortable playing great tennis.”<\/p>\n
De Minaur, who had never beaten Alcaraz in five previous attempts, is at a career-high ranking of sixth and cannot be faulted for his attitude, with his determination to stay on the front foot and not be pushed behind the baseline by the bigger hitters evident here.<\/p>\n
He troubled Alcaraz in the opening set, twice breaking the top seed\u2019s serve, but both times he was coming from behind and the disappointment was clear on the Australian\u2019s face when he failed to save a fourth set point in the 12th game.<\/p>\n
The intense heat of the day had subsided enough to allow the roof to be open \u2013 although it was still 39C at the start \u2013 and a swirling breeze at times affected both men.<\/p>\n
But Alcaraz was simply better, particularly on serve, and De Minaur was unable to land any meaningful blows after the opening set.<\/p>\n
Vamos so good, we had to run the whole point here \ud83d\ude0f\ud83d\ude0e@wwos<\/a> @espn<\/a> @tntsports<\/a> @wowowtennis<\/a> #AO26<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/l3zY2kC4bQ<\/a><\/p>\n