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 No. 25 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 matches went five sets.
Tien, 20, was competing in his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Zverev fired 24 aces, 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 will face the top-seeded Alcaraz following the latter’s 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory against Australian hopeful and No. 6 seed Alex De Minaur.
Alcaraz has not dropped a set in Melbourne as he looks to complete a career Grand Slam at the age of 22. He is a two-time champion at each of the other three majors but has never reached the final in Australia.
“I’m just really happy with the level that I’m playing every match, since the first round,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve been increasing my level each match. I was talking with my team about being patient, because I want all the things right now. But they told me to be patient, that the level will come. Today I felt really comfortable, playing great tennis, which I’m really proud about.”
Alcaraz is trying to become just the sixth man in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Rod Laver.
He saved five of seven break points against De Minaur and finished with a 26-16 edge in winners while winning 82% (18 of 22) of his points at the net.
Alcaraz improved to 6-0 against De Minaur. His upcoming match with Zverev is a rematch of a 2024 quarterfinal, which the Spaniard lost in four sets.
–Field Level Media
