Germany’s Alexander Zverev stunned second seed Carlos Alcaraz to reach the Australian Open semi-finals as a sublime display of serving took him to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

Zverev landed 94 of 111 first serves throughout the three hour, five minute contest and even when Alcaraz threatened a remarkable comeback he showed great composure to seal victory.

In his seventh grand slam semi-final, Zverev will need similar accuracy as he takes on Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedev pounced on the few chances offered by Hubert Hurkacz to seal a semi-final spot.

Medvedev, seeded third, who lost back-to-back Melbourne Park finals in 2021 and 2022, took a step closer to returning to the title clash with a 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Pole Hurkacz.

He had looked on course to wrap up the match in four sets before Hurkacz grew in belief and forced a decider, where Russian Medvedev broke for a 4-3 lead and soaked up the applause before serving out to seal the win.

“I knew how ‘Hubi’ can play and he played quite well. I felt like the games, almost all of them, probably except 2-0 in the first set, I had a small chance,” Medvedev said.

‘Didn’t let go’

Alcaraz was outplayed for almost three sets but belatedly found his A-game to win a third-set tiebreaker with a mind-boggling flurry of outrageous winners.

Sixth seed Zverev was suffering from blood blisters on his feet during a riveting fourth set but held firm though to withstand the Alcaraz attack. His metronomic serving and bullet-proof backhand got him over the winning line against a top-five opponent for the first time at a grand slam.

“When you’re up 6-1, 6-3, 5-2 against a player like Carlos you start thinking because we are all human,” Zverev said on court.

“Your brain starts going and it’s not always helpful but I’m happy I got there in the end. I fought back pretty well in the fourth set and didn’t let go.”

Zverev had spent nearly 14 hours on court to reach the quarter-finals while 20-year-old Alcaraz had roared through the draw and was firm favourite for Wednesday’s clash.

But the Spaniard was caught cold as Zverev came out swinging, dropping only two points on serve as he raced through the opening set with ease.

Zverev failed to land only four first serves in the opening two sets and two breaks of the Alcaraz delivery in the second set enabled him to seize complete control.

A subdued Alcaraz looked at a loss to know what to do but when Zverev served for the match at 5-3 something clicked and he broke serve for the first time to stay alive — a huge smile spreading across his face as he sat down at the change of ends.

Suddenly playing freely, Alcaraz produced four successive winners from 0-2 down in the tiebreak as he reeled off seven points to take the match past midnight.

Whipping the late-night Rod Laver Arena crowd into a frenzy, Alcaraz looked favourite to take the match into a decider as Zverev began to hobble at times. But Zverev showed great resilience to hold serve in a pulsating eighth game which Nick Kyrgios described as “insanity”.

Some stunning backhands then gave Zverev the break of serve at 4-4 and 50 minutes after first serving for the match he managed to complete a remarkable victory.

Qinwen hurdle

Among women, Dayana Yastremska beat Czech Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 to book a semi-final spot, becoming the first women’s qualifier to reach the last four in Melbourne since the 1978 tournament.

Battling in 30 degrees Celsius heat, the Ukrainian’s powerful forehand eventually overcame the 19-year-old Czech, who was the youngest player left in the draw.

Yastremska will take on Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen, who shook off a sluggish start to outclass Russian Anna Kalinskaya 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1.

Yastremska, 23, follows in the footsteps of Christine Matison, the last qualifier to reach the Melbourne Park semis 45 years ago.

“I think it’s nice to make history because at that time I wasn’t born,” Yastremska said on court after the match. “It’s next generation making history and I’m so happy, and tired.”

The players traded breaks early in the first set, but it was Yastremska who took the lead in the eighth game when Noskova netted a backhand.

Despite failing to get nearly half her first serves in, the Ukrainian kept the pressure on with a string of forehand winners throughout the match.

Noskova failed to capitalise on a break point when she was down 5-3 and Yastremska wrapped up the first set in 36 minutes.

The players were on level pegging throughout the second set until the seventh game when Yastremska locked it up on her third break point with a backhand winner that left Noskova stranded on the far side of the court.

She closed out the match on serve when Noskova’s backhand return hit the net.