Zverev surprisingly defeated co-favorite Alcaraz in Melbourne

The German, seeded number six, defeated co-favorite Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals with 6:1,6:3,6:7(2),6:4 in 3:05 hours and prevented a semi-final of the top 4. Zverev was at the stand of 6:1.6:1.5:3, he was only two points away from victory before the Spaniard rebelled. Zverev now faces Russian Daniil Medvedev.

After Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, he made it into the semi-finals with a lot of effort. After 3:59 hours he defeated the Pole Hubert Hurkacz 7:6(4),2:6.6:3.5:7.6:4.

“I’m completely exhausted”

Medvedev was exhausted after the match, his second five-set thriller of the tournament. “I’m completely exhausted. Not that I ran out of gas in the second set, but I was already pretty tired. In the fourth set I could barely concentrate. I’ve already come to terms with the fact that I’ll probably be fine after the match “I went home and just did what was possible. Somehow I managed it,” Medvedev said with relief after his 100th game at a Grand Slam tournament.

For Olympic champion Zverev, who is still chasing his first major title but was in great form, it is the second semi-final at the “happy slam” in Australia. With the victory over Alcaraz, he also achieved revenge for the quarter-final defeat at the US Open 2023. The defeat of Alcaraz means that the race for number one after the Australian Open has been decided. Even if Djokovic loses in the semifinals and Medvedev wins the title, the Serb will remain ahead.

Jastremska qualified for semi-finals

The Ukrainian qualifier Dajana Jastremska had already qualified for the semi-finals in the women’s tournament. The 23-year-old beat 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova, who was also surprisingly in the quarter-finals, 6:3,6:4. Jastremska is the first qualifier in 46 years to reach the semi-finals “down under”. She converted her first match point in the Rod Laver Arena after 1:19 hours and completed her greatest success to date.

In the semi-finals on Thursday, Jastremska will face the number twelve seeded Chinese Zheng Qinwen. She beat the Russian Anna Kalinskaja after losing the first set with 6:7(4),6:4,6:1. Zheng is in a major semi-final for the first time and is the favorite there. The world number 15. can definitely be happy about reaching a milestone, as she is confirmed as the new top ten player regardless of how the tournament progresses. The other semi-final will be contested by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus and US Open champion Coco Gauff from the USA in a repeat of the US Open final.

“It’s nice to make history”

“It’s nice to make history. I wasn’t even born in 1978,” said Jastremska after her confident performance. “It didn’t feel like I played really well. But I’m over the moon that I’m in the semi-finals.” Jastremska dedicated her surprising victory to her compatriots who had been tormented by the Russian war of aggression. “I am proud of our fighters in Ukraine,” Jastremska wrote on the television camera lens after the game. In tennis it is customary for the winners to write messages on the cameras after the game.

“They really deserve our respect. I always try to write something about Ukraine,” said Jastremska. “I think that’s my mission here. I just want to send a signal to the people of Ukraine that I’m really proud of our country.” Other Ukrainian players such as Marta Kostjuk and Elina Svitolina also used their successes in Melbourne to point out the still difficult situation at home. “The war is still going on. People are still dying,” Kostyuk said, for example.

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