Superb Alexander Zverev beats Carlos Alcaraz to seal Australian Open semi-final spot

Alexander Zverev produced a magnificent performance to defeat world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling battle at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The German sixth seed appeared to be racing to victory in the quarter-final clash, taking the first two sets and finding himself 5-2 up in the third.

But two-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz showed his mettle by then winning the next six games on the spin to drag himself back into the match.

A deciding fifth set looked on the cards at 4-4 in the fourth until Zverev broke the Spaniard and then held his serve to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to seal his first ever win against a top-five ranked opponent in a Grand Slam.

“I'm playing one of the best players in the world especially over the last two years. He's been number one and number two in the world and won two Grand Slams,” said Zverev.

“When you're up 6-1, 6-3, 5-2 you start thinking... I mean we're all human. It's a huge honour to play against guys like him and then when you're so close to winning, obviously your brain starts going and it's not always helpful but I'm happy that I got it in the end.”

Third seed Medvedev admitted his five-set victory over Poland's Hurkacz has left him “destroyed” after a near four-hour fight in sweltering Melbourne heat.

1 - Alexander Zverev has registered his first top-5 win in a Grand Slam, he was 0-10 before this match against Alcaraz against the top-5 in the World. Start. #AusOpen | @AustralianOpen @atptour pic.twitter.com/yuD4VBLN9v

Medvedev overcame the ninth seed7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 but admitted he was still feeling the effects of his second-round five-setter against Emil Ruusuvuori, which finished at 3.40am local time in what has been a gruelling tournament.

“After every match I'm in the