Alexander Zverev beats Tommy Paul to reach his third Australian Open semi-final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Alexander Zverev reached his third Australian Open semifinal with a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1 victory over 12th-seeded Tommy Paul of the United States on Tuesday.

The no. No. 2 Zverev had to save a set point in each of the first two sets, but then dominated both tiebreakers.

Zverev is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up. He has never made it this far in Australia.

The German will next play the winner of a quarter-final later on Tuesday, which he described as a “clash of generations” between 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, who is 37, and four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz, 21.

Zverev needed three match points – one on Paul’s serve and two more of his own – to claim victory, which he closed out with an ace.

Paul was a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2023 and had won both of his previous matches against Zverev, but this was their first Grand Slam meeting.

“To be honest, I should have been down two sets to love. He played better than me,” Zverev said. “I wasn’t playing well and I thought he was. I somehow won the first set, won the second set, I’m in the semifinals, somehow.”

He called the Djokovic-Alcaraz quarterfinal “probably the highlight of the whole tournament.”

“Two of the best players to probably ever touch a tennis racket,” Zverev said. “It’s a clash of generations.”

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