TENNIS | AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Carlos Alcaraz loses to Zverev in quarter-finals: how much did he earn at the 2024 Australian Open?
World number two Alcaraz was comfortably beaten by sixth seed Zverev, who joins Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev in the last four.
Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of winning a third tennis Grand Slam title are over - for now - after he was soundly beaten by Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Australian Open.
The Spaniard, the current world number two, breezed through both his third and fourth-round ties against Jungcheng Shang and Miomir Kecmanovic respectively, spending less than three hours on court in those two matches combined.
Zverev dominates Alcaraz to set up Medvedev semi-final
However, Alcaraz appeared to be somewhat undercooked - or perhaps he hadn’t eaten enough sushi on the eve of the clash - against sixth seed Zverev, who had little difficulty progressing to the last four, where he will face 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev.
The German immediately took control of the contest, winning 16 of the first 18 points available and breaking twice in the opening set, which he won 6-1, setting the tone for the remainder of the match.
Alcaraz showed signs of life in the second set but passed up two break points at 3-2 ahead, which was immediately followed by Zverev winning the next four games in a row. The 2023 Wimbledon champion did take the third set via a tie-break, although that only served to delay what appeared to be inevitable.
The pair traded breaks early on in the fourth before Zverev finished his opponent off by breaking again in game nine, going on to hold serve for a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 victory.
Alcaraz’s Australian Open prize money
Having been considered one of the favourites to win the tournament, Alcaraz will be deeply disappointed to have lost in the quarter-finals, although this has comfortably been his best performance at the Australian Open, where he had previously never got beyond the second round.
This year’s edition of the competition has a record prize pool of AUD $86.5 million (around $57.1 million), a 13.07% increase from 2023. Alcaraz will take home AUD $600,000 (circa $405,900) after losing in the last eight, with Zverev guaranteed a minimum of AUD $990,000 ($669,735) for reaching the semi-finals.
The winner of the tournament will collect AUD $3,150,000, which works out at around $2,130,975.
2024 Australian Open semi-final draw
- Novak Djokovic (1) - Jannik Sinner (4)
- Daniil Medvedev (3) - Alexander Zverev (6)
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