Aus Open: Zverev overcomes Paul to book semifinal berth

Melbourne, Jan 21 World No. 2 Alexander Zverev secured a thrilling 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 victory over Tommy Paul on Tuesday for his third Australian Open semifinal.

The German saved a set-point in both of the first two sets and denied Paul’s attempts to serve them out on Rod Laver Arena. Despite a strong comeback from Paul in the third set, Zverev responded with a dominant fourth to seal the win.

This marks Zverev’s ninth Grand Slam semifinal appearance, where he will await the winner of the evening match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Both semifinals are scheduled for Friday, giving Zverev and his opponent two days to rest.

Zverev claimed his first victory in three meetings with Paul, largely thanks to his sharp play in the key moments. The German capitalised on crucial errors by Paul late in the opening two sets, taking full advantage of second chances. In the first set, the competitors exchanged breaks from 5-5, with Zverev saving a set point at 6-5 on Paul’s serve before dominating the tie-break.

In the second set, Paul broke early but faltered, hitting three consecutive forehand errors, which allowed Zverev to break back and later save another set point at 4-5. Zverev then won 11 straight points, sealing the set 7-0 in a tie-break after holding serve at 5-6.

The match was a back-and-forth affair, with both players broken four times, but Zverev took control in the final set. Though Paul fought off two break points to avoid a 6-0 scoreline, Zverev eventually wrapped up the match 6-1.

With his 30th Australian Open win, Zverev surpassed Boris Becker to set the all-time record for most singles victories by a German man at the event.

Paul, who reached the semifinals at the 2023 Australian Open, was aiming to become the second active American player (after Frances Tiafoe) to make multiple Grand Slam singles semi-finals. Another American, Ben Shelton, will look to achieve the same feat on Wednesday against Lorenzo Sonego.

Source: IANS