Still seeking his first Grand Slam championship, Alexander Zverev is through to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third year in a row.

The third-seeded German defeated 25th-seeded Learner Tien of the United States 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday in Melbourne.

Last year, Zverev lost in the Australian Open final to Italy’s Jannik Sinner in straight sets. In 2024, he fell to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.

Zverev, 28, has reached two other major finals. He was beaten by Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open title match and by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the 2024 French Open crown. Both of those finals matches went five sets.

Tien, 20, was competing in his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Zverev fired 24 aces on Tuesday, committed just one double fault and never lost his serve while facing just three break points. Tien wasn’t nearly as solid on his serve, offsetting his 11 aces with nine double faults and winning only 44% of his second-serve points.

“Learner from the baseline was playing unbelievable,” Zverev said. “I haven’t played anyone who plays that well from the baseline for a very long time.

“I don’t know what (coach) Michael Chang has done with him in the offseason, but the way he’s playing, it’s incredible. Without my (24) aces, I probably would have not won today. I’m obviously very happy with my serve but happy to be back in the semis.”

While Zverev had a small edge in winners (56-53), Tien committed 42 unforced errors to the German’s 22.

Zverev awaits the winner of the later Tuesday quarterfinal featuring Alcaraz, who is seeded first, and sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia.

–Field Level Media