Alcaraz crushes de Minaur to reach Australian semis; Svitolina beats Gauff

With a dominant 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory over local favorite Alex de Minaur, Carlos Alcaraz’s career Grand Slam bid is still alive at Melbourne Park.

The 22-year-old eliminated de Minaur’s hopes after five years of waiting for a homegrown men’s champion at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Tuesday, swapping extravagance for efficiency.

Alcaraz, a six-time major winner, broke de Minaur early to take a 3-0 lead, but his retooled serve was exposed in the fifth game when he faced three break points.

De Minaur resisted and won the ninth game before recovering a second break in the ninth, delighting the center-court crowd by holding in the following, but some loose points gave Alcaraz a gripping opening set.

Alcaraz put the pressure on himself in the second set by opening up the second set with a pair of rasping backhand crosscourt winners to take the lead.

Alcaraz won the match and advanced to face Alexander Zverev, the third seed, in the third set after a deflated de Minaur gave up his serve early in the third set.

“I’m just really happy how I’m playing every game,” he said. My level is rising each round, Alcaraz warned his rivals.

“Today I felt really at ease and I’m proud of how good I was playing tennis.”

German Zverev defeated American Learner Tien 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6, 7-3 to claim his last-four spot earlier in a 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 victory.

Alcaraz praised Zverev, saying, “I have seen him throughout the entire tournament, and I know he is playing great, aggressive tennis.”

“I must be ready,” he says of my entire team.

We must play tactically extremely well, they say. It will be a very interesting battle.

On Wednesday, Novak Djokovic, a 10-time Melbourne champion, will face Lorenzo Musetti, Italy’s fifth-seeded player, in the other two quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, the winner will face eighth-seeded American Ben Shelton or two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Svitolina hopes that Ukraine will be “a little light” after the Gauff incident.

Elina Svitolina expressed hope that Coco Gauff’s stunning upset of third-seeded Ukrainians will lighten their bitter winters as a result of Russia’s brutal assault on them.

Aryna Sabalenka, the 31-year-old world number one, defeated the American 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals.

Svitolina avoids tussling with Russian and Belarusian opponents like other Ukrainian players do.

She praised her overwhelming victory over Gauff as “great for my country.”

It’s very important to me to see a lot of Ukrainians supporting tennis, which is great because it’s one of the most difficult winters for Ukrainians without electricity and everything.

When my friends are watching my matches, I feel like I should pass this light, a little light, just positive news to Ukrainians. It gives me a wonderful feeling.

Throughout the nearly four-year conflict, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, particularly in the winter, leaving many Ukrainians without electricity or heating.

Former world number three Svitolina was playing her 14th Grand Slam quarterfinal a decade earlier than Gauff.

She had only previously and never before advanced to the semis in Australia.

Svitolina, who won the tournament for the first time this month in Auckland and is on a 10-game winning streak, was “very, very pleased with the tournament so far.”

She will re-enter the top 10 if she makes it to the semifinals.

“It’s always been my dream to return after maternity leave to finish in the top ten.” Always been what I wanted, she said.

To me, “It means the world.”

Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, was left in disarray by her broken serve, which she had four sets to go with, and two more when she was broken.

She committed 19 unforced errors while receiving only 41% of her first service points.

Gauff immediately broke after serving during the entire tournament.

With husband Gael Monfils watching, Svitolina and husband Gael Monfils both failed to capitalize on her failure and also conceded her serve. Gauff then caused two double faults to be broken once more at crucial points.

She was clearly frustrated as the Ukrainian ran to 5-1 with a fifth double fault of the match, giving Svitolina yet another break and the set in 29 minutes. She was broken three more times, which she loved.

After the first-set annihilation, Gauff summoned a ball kid, demanded that three racquets be restrained, and left the court for a toilet break.

But it was ineffective. To start set two, she was broken five straight times.

She finally succeeded in holding onto her sixth attempt without retaliation.