Alexander Zverev hopes this is the week he can shed the title of best men’s tennis player never to win a Grand Slam.
The No. 3 seed made quick work of No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina on Sunday, posting a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win to advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. It is his fifth trip to the quarters, surpassing Boris Becker for the most appearances in the round in Melbourne by a German man.
He lost to Jannik Sinner in the finals in 2025.
To move on, Zverev will need to beat No. 25 Learner Tien, who continued his dominance of Russian Daniil Medevev in the fourth round. Tien, 20, ousted Medvedev 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 to become the youngest man to reach the Australian Open quarters since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.
“It feels amazing, it is so special to do it here,” Tien said about reaching his first quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event. “It is so special to come back here and play every year and it was a big goal of mine [to play well here] and I am super happy.”
Also advancing to the quarterfinals was No. 6 Alex de Minaur, the home-country favorite. He topped No. 10 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
“I knew what I was in for today,” de Minaur said. “Bublik is a hell of a player. He has so much firepower and I lost to him the past couple of times. I made sure I was ready to go from the first point to the last and I was locked in. It was all about neutralizing his big groundstrokes and doing my best to get him on the move and it all kind of worked perfectly.”
Awaiting de Minaur in the quarterfinals is Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 1 seed, who has won six major titles but has yet to lift the Australian Open trophy.
Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year with a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 19 Tommy Paul.
Heading into the match, Paul had reason for optimism because they had split four previous matches on outdoor hard courts. He jumped out to an early lead, breaking Alcaraz in a five-point first game.
But Alcaraz broke back in the eighth game of the set, forcing it to a tiebreaker. Paul had the tiebreaker in his control, serving at 5-4, but lost both serves and ended up dropping the crucial first set.
Alcaraz did not face a break point in the second set and gave Paul few opportunities, winning 20 of 27 points on serve.
Paul saved three break points in the third game of the third set, but only won five points on Alcaraz’s serve through five service games. At 5-5, the match came to an end quickly, as Alcaraz dropped only two points in the final two games of the match.
Alcaraz won 76% (71 of 94) on serve and a sizzling 86% (19 of 22) points at the net.
“I’m surprising myself, to be honest,” said Alcaraz post-match, when asked about his high first-serve numbers. “The serve is something I’ve been working on. … For me, I am really happy to see the improvement of the serve.
“In general, in the four matches I’ve played, the serve has been an important weapon for me.”
–Field Level Media
