It's that time again: Alexander Zverev doesn't have much left to finally celebrate his first success at a major. But the Hamburg resident still has two hurdles to overcome, starting this morning with Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic. From 4:30 a.m. German time we will keep you up to date on everything important from the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
Next highlights
Just finished: Novak Djokovic vs. Alexander Zverev – 6:7, Djokovic abandons
from 9:30 a.m.: Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton
Tennis-Tracker LIVE
06:19 am – Looking ahead to the grand final on Sunday, in which he will face either Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton, Zverev is hoping for the long-awaited breakthrough: “It would be nice to win one more set than just the first two. I lost twice in the fifth set, once in a tiebreak. So I've had my bad defeats and I hope it's time for me to have some luck in a Grand Slam final.“
06:13 am – “I thought the first set was at a pretty high level. He may not have moved as well in the tiebreak as he did in the rest of the first set. Then I saw that he was struggling a little more” said Zevrev, who continued his appeal: “I'm happy to be in the final of a Grand Slam. On the other hand, there is no other player on the tour that I respect more than Djokovic. If I had problems, I could always turn to him. He is always someone who has helped me a lot and is one of my best friends on tour. I wanted today to be a great match.“
06:10 am – We still don't know exactly what happened. Djokovic actually moved well here. Zverev asks the audience not to boo Djokovic: “He gave tennis everything in his life. If he gives up a game, then he really can't play anymore.“
06:08 a.m. – MATCH WIN ZVEREV – Tiebreak at a really strong level. Djokovic plays Zverev at his own service and 4:4 with a drop and lob, Zverev still counters to 6:5 and has the first set point. Until then there isn't a single mini-break, then Djokovic hits a loose ball into the net! Zverev wins the set, then Djokovic gives up the match.
05:57 am – At the end of the set there are two confident service games from both players – so we go to the tiebreak!
05:45 am – A strange but very exciting game so far. At all times you have the feeling that both players have chances on the other's serve. With the score at 4:4, Zverev has break ball again, Djokovic's first serve doesn't come again. Then the Serb overpowers the German with a strong forehand. Djokovic reads Zverev well again as the game progresses – and ultimately increases to 5:4.
05:15 am – The consequence is almost as ordered and immediately. Zverev, probably still frustrated from the game before, lets his concentration wander. Djokovic secured three break points at 0:40, but then showed nerves and put the first one out. Zverev then does well thanks to strong serves and fends off all three break points.
05:10 am – Zverev shows nerves. The Hamburger puts Djokovic under pressure on his serve after a great backhand return at 0:30. He serves two strong serves, but then struggles with his first serve. Zverev gets a whopping four break points, two of which he effortlessly hits into the net and one out of bounds. Even on the first ball for Djokovic, Zverev unnecessarily put the ball too far with a frame hit. After more than ten minutes, Djokovic saves himself to make it 2-1. What a missed opportunity for Zverev, Djokovic probably won't miss that many first serves today.
04:58 am – Zverev also has no problems with his first service game. He approaches the whole thing quite aggressively, much to our delight. A return frame hit from Djokovic seals the score at 1-1 at 15.
04:53 am – So let's jump straight into the action. What do we see in the first service game? Long rallies dominated by Djokovic, a backhand “around the net” from Zverev, which is skillfully countered by the Serb – 1-0 for the record champion!
04:45 am – The record at Grand Slams is 3-0 for Djokovic. However, it became increasingly scarce. In 2019, “Djoker” had no trouble at 7:5 6:2 6:2, in February 2021 Zverev was closer to it in the final at 7:6 2:6 4:6 6:7. A few months later, the German narrowly missed out on winning the final of the US Open with a score of 6:4 2:6 4:6 6:4 2:6. Will he make a breakthrough today?
04:38 am – Now the time has come: the two are received loudly by the audience. First it's time to warm up, we should see the first serve in about ten minutes.
-04:30 am – It's starting in the Rod Laver Arena in just a few moments. The opponents aren't on the court yet. We're already hot!
4:15am – Number 3 for Zverev or number 38 for Djokovic? The number of final appearances in Grand Slam tournaments alone says a lot about the difference in experience between the two opponents today. But the Hamburg native seems more stable than he has in a long time and thinks he has a chance even against the legendary Serb.
In our video preview we look at the most important statistical values and prepare you perfectly for the game before it starts in Melbourne in around 20 minutes.
Video Vorschau zu Djokovic vs. Zverev.
Flashscore
Preliminary report on Djokovic vs. Zverev
Germany's best tennis player is also an attraction on the other side of the world. Alexander Zverev whipped his balls over the net before the big match in the semifinals of the Australian Open against Novak Djokovic in front of around 300 fans in Melbourne. Afterwards, the world number two shuffled patiently along the 50 meter long line of people, fulfilled requests for autographs and selfies, and appeared close to the people – while his opponent completely disappeared and began his psychological games. More info
In any case, tennis legend Boris Becker believes that Zverev will reach the final. The “favorite” is Novak Djokovic, “but I think Sascha Zverev has something going on,” said the 57-year-old at Eurosport. The Hamburger will fight for his first final Down Under on Friday (Eurosport), but he has never been able to triumph against the Serbian superstar at a Grand Slam tournament. It won't be easy against Djokovic this time either. More info
A side story at this year's “Happy Slam” is the discussion about the media coverage on site. First Novak Djokovic, now Ben Shelton – top players are only moderately “happy” and complain about the supposed disrespect of journalists around the Australian Open. The tournament is opening up more and more to spectators and is therefore reaching its limits. More info
Looking back to yesterday
Before it's the men's turn today, the women's finalists have already been determined. Aryna Sabalenka did her homework on Thursday morning and beat the bravely fighting Paula Badosa from Spain 6:4, 6:2 in the first semi-final after a highly concentrated performance. More info
In the final she won't have to deal with Iga Swiatek as expected, but with Madison Keys. The American showed a self-sacrificing performance in the second semifinal and defeated the clearly favored Pole in the match tiebreak. Swiatek even missed a match point when the score was 6:5 in the third set. More info
And then there was the double, in which there was almost a German participation. But the match tiebreak also turned out to be the final stop for the successful duo Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz. More info
The men's semi-finals of the Australian Open
ab 4:30 Uhr: Novak Djokovic vs. Alexander Zverev – 6:7, Djokovic gives up
from 9:30 a.m.: Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton
Related News :