Clutch Zverev becomes first man into Australian Open semi-finals

No 2 seed Alexander Zverev defeated No 11 seed Tommy Paul 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday in Melbourne.

It was a match that Paul will likely lose sleep over for some time, with the American serving for – and hold sets points in – both the first and second sets.

Zverev proved to be clutch under pressure, however, breaking serve at just the right time and producing two near-perfect tiebreaks to book his place in the final four at Melbourne Park.

The victory sees Zverev through to his ninth Grand Slam semi-final since 2020, the second-most after Novak Djokovic (13).

“I actually don’t know,” Zverev said when asked about how he won the match.

“To be honest I should have been down two sets to love. He played better than me. I was not playing great, and I thought he was.

“I’m in the semi-finals somehow, and I’m obviously extremely happy about that. Looking forward to hopefully at least two more matches to go for me.”

A missed opportunity for Paul

The first men’s quarter-final began with regulation holds by both Zverev and Paul as both settled into the match.

Noticeably, Paul was hitting his forehand much harder than the previous four rounds – sitting at an average of 141 km/h over the first three games. This served to shorten points and eliminate any kind of rhythm from the match over the first half of the set.

It also offered up the American a look at breakpoint in the fifth game. Zverev wriggled his way out of the hole – thanks to his trusty first serve – with the match remaining on serve until the 11^th game.

At 5-5, Paul produced some of his best tennis to race out to 0-40 on the German’s serve, mixing in variety with crushing forehands to earn three looks at breakpoint. Zverev defended the first two with first serves made, but on the third, Paul simply outplayed his opponent from the back of the court, mercilessly pushing him side to side before drawing a backhand slice into the net.

With the first set on his strings, Paul himself faced trouble on serve. An overplayed forehand and a well-constructed rally from Zverev led to 0-30, with a break back well and truly on the cards.

While the No 12 seed scrambled to win the next three points and earn set point, a double fault and several errors gave the break back to Zverev and sent the opening set to a tiebreak.

There, Zverev was near-flawless. While at times he had looked lacklustre and down on pace over the first set, he quickly put that behind him won all seven points in play over the tiebreak, with Paul’s solitary point coming from an ace.

Second set, déjà vu

Despite the disappointment of losing a set which he had dominated for large swathes, Paul began the second well.

He won the opening six points, holding to love then going up 0-30 on Zverev’s serve. A breakpoint came at 30-40, and while Zverev repelled it with an unreturnable first serve, a second presented itself two points later which Paul turned into a 2-0 lead.

Unlike the first set, Paul managed to consolidate the break. Zverev had his chances on the American’s serve later in the set, however.

The first came at 4-2, with Zverev getting to 15-40 before botching two breakpoints. His disappointment became rage when a feather fluttering across the court during the deuce point caused a let that denied him another breakpoint, and went on to lose the game.

When it came time for Paul to serve out the set, he again failed to do so, however. In fact, he looked even tighter than the first set, striking three consecutive forehand errors to lose his serve to love and put the second set back on serve.

In the next game, Paul earnt himself another set point, but again was unable to convert it with Zverev holding for 5-5. Each then held, sending the second set to the same climax as the first: a tiebreak.

Again, it was a case of déjà vu as Zverev lifted his level, moving past the American with ease – this time without dropping a point in the tiebreak – to take a two-set lead.

Third time lucky

Speaking of déjà vu, the third set began with Paul breaking Zverev’s serve again.

As he did in the previous set, the American consolidated the break and held his advantage until the seventh game. There, he doubled down, breaking Zverev again for a commanding 5-2 lead.

This time, with a minimum of two chances to serve out the set, Paul was clinical, firing winners left, right and centre to hold serve to love and force a fourth set on Rod Laver Arena.

Zverev’s revenge

Just when it seemed the world No 11 was surging back into the match, Zverev stifled any semblance of momentum with an early break in the fourth.

While Paul continued to fight valiantly and had his chances, the pressure of Zverev’s 2-1 set lead was ultimately too much as he conceded another break in the fourth game, falling behind 4-0.

From this point the match felt like a formality, with the score beginning to read like one of the first two tiebreaks. While Paul did get a consolation game, that was all he could manage with the No 2 seed serving out the set to win 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 in three hours and 28 minutes.

Up next, the German will face either third seed Carlos Alcaraz, or 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, with the two meeting in the night session on Tuesday.

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