Alexander Zverev is in the quarterfinals Australian Open in Melbourne. But he had a lot of trouble against Cameron Norrie.
The Hamburger defeated his “favorite opponent” from Great Britain after a four-hour show of strength 7:5, 3:6, 6:3, 4:6, 7:6 (10:3) and was on the hunt for his first Grand Slamtitle in Melbourne once again shaky, but with strong nerves. In the quarter-finals, Zverev now faces a clash with the Spanish world number two Carlos Alcaraz, who was also playing his round of 16 against the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
Before the game, Zverev had an impeccable record of four wins and 8-0 sets against Norrie. On Monday he got into the game well and decisively broke the world number 22 in the first set to 6-5. After a drop in performance in the second set, the momentum in the game fluctuated back and forth. In the Match tiebreak In the fifth set, Zverev showed himself to have more staying power and used his first match point to win and reach the third quarter-final in Melbourne in his career – but he has to improve significantly to have a chance at the title.
Medvedev also in the quarterfinals
The two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev made it to the quarterfinals without any major problems. The world number three from Russia underlined his title ambitions and defeated the Portuguese Nuno Borges 6:3, 7:6 (7:4), 5:7, 6:1 in around three hours of play. “I just hoped it wouldn’t go beyond five sentences”Medvedev said: “I’m very tired now. But that should be better by the next match.”
In the quarterfinals, Medvedev will face ninth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated the young Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 7:6 (8:6), 7:6 (7:3), 6:4 and reached the round for the first time the last eight in Melbourne.
Ukrainian Jastremska continues
In the women’s category, Ukrainian qualifier Dajana Jastremska surprisingly reached the quarterfinals. The 23-year-old sat down Melbourne against the favorite Viktoria Asarenka with 7:6 (8:6), 6:4. In the fight for a place in the semi-finals, Jastremska will now face Linda Noskova. The Czech benefited from the injury-related retirement of Ukrainian Jelina Switolina, who, from her point of view, was unable to continue playing due to an injury when the score was 0-3.
“It feels like my heart is jumping out of my body”said Jastremska, completely overwhelmed after the game Rod Laver Arena. It felt like she had lost the game 20 times: “Incredible. I think I won because I’m a great fighter.”
In the first set Jastremska had to Tiebreaker fend off two set balls. Also in the second set, Azarenka pulled the first Grand Slamtournament in the 2012 and 2013 tennis seasons, quickly went 3-0. But Jastremska fought back and scored her first match point after 2:07 hours. She is the second Ukrainian to reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne. Marta Kostjuk had previously won her round of 16 on Sunday. She now has to deal with the American Coco Gauff.
Hanfmann and Koepfer in the quarterfinals
The German tennis professionals Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer surprisingly reached the quarter-finals as a doubles team. The duo defeated Marcel Granollers from Spain and Horacio Zeballos from Argentina 7:6 (7:5), 6:7 (3:7), 6:4 and presented themselves well-coordinated in Melbourne despite little doubles experience together. “It’s not like I’m thinking, ‘Unbelievable'”said Hanfmann: “We’re both good enough and can beat people in doubles. The fact that it’s working so well at a Grand Slam is of course cool.”
On Sunday, the Davis Cup double Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz had already reached the quarter-finals, and there could be a German duel in the semi-finals. Already in the second round, Hanfmann and Koepfer, who were eliminated in the singles in the first round, surprisingly eliminated the Australian defending champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.
Siegemund also continued in doubles
Specialist Laura Siegemund also reached the quarter-finals with her new Czech partner Barbora Krejcikova. The duo beat the American Emma Navarro and the Russian Diana Schnaider 6:4, 6:0. Krejcikova is also in the singles quarterfinals in Melbourne.