Australian Open: Zverev achieves semi-final showdown and breaks record

After Alexander Zverev completed the semi-final showdown against an exceptional talent with a cracking ace, he stretched his arms in relief rather than euphoria. Thanks to great nerves, the German tennis star won the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against US professional Tommy Paul 7:6 (7:1), 7:6, (7:0), 2:6, 6:1 – real title form demonstrated The Hamburg team almost only played in the tiebreaks and at times in the fourth set.

“To be honest, I have to be down 2-0 in sets here, he played better than me,” said the 2021 Olympic champion. “I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals again.”

Zverev reached the top four in Melbourne for the third time. But a completely different caliber awaits the world number two there on Thursday. Zverev’s opponent in the semi-finals will be determined in the subsequent giant duel between the 24-time Grand Slam tournament winner Novak Djokovic from Serbia and Spain’s tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz (approx. 10.30 a.m./CET).

“An absolutely boring schedule. No reason to stay here after the Zverev-Paul match,” Zverev joked to the spectators in the Rod Laver Arena. Then he added seriously: “These are two of the best players to ever hold a racket in their hands. It’s going to be a duel of generations. Please enjoy it, it’s sure to be a great match.”

Zverev will have to improve to reach the final; against Paul, Zverev initially weakened on his first serve. After 3:28 hours it was still enough for a total of 30th victory at the Australian Open. In these statistics he surpassed the tennis icon Boris Becker and is now the sole record holder among male German players.

Paul is a “very smart” player, said Zverev: “I think I have more power and I have to take advantage of that.” However, little of this power was initially visible. Zverev only hit seven winning rackets in the first set, which he won with a lot of effort. In addition, with a first serve rate of only 60 percent, he was weak in his main discipline. Only thanks to a re-break to make it 6:6 did Zverev save himself in the tiebreak, in which he performed significantly better.

But that didn’t initially give Zverev any more security. He gave up his first serve game of the second set, then he felt he had been treated unfairly. When the score was 2:4, he was first disturbed by a shout from the audience. Then he was unlucky that the referee interrupted the game according to the rules because a bird feather fell on the pitch. Zverev complained, visibly annoyed: “That’s unbelievable.” He received a warning for his complaining.

But Zverev’s emotions gave him new impetus. He broke his opponent, fended off a set point and dominated again in the tiebreak. Paul lost his nerve too often in crucial moments. But in the third set he even extended an early break lead and never let it go.

After a bathroom break, Zverev seemed significantly more focused again, while Paul’s rhythm was broken. In the heat match with temperatures of more than 30 degrees and direct sunlight, Zverev did not show any major physical weaknesses. Unlike title rival Jannik Sinner, who struggled considerably in his hard-won round of 16 against Holger Rune in similar conditions the day before, Zverev still looked fit towards the end of the match.