Alexander Zverev has never managed to beat a top-five player at a Grand Slam tournament. Now he is defeating the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in four sets at the Australian Open – because this time he only thinks for a moment.
It was night in Melbourne Park, the seagulls were circling over the stadium, the full moon was in the sky, but Rod Laver, the now 85-year-old greatest tennis player in the country, held out – like 14,000 other spectators who were at the match point at 1:19 a.m. local time applauded by Alexander Zverev. The German needed four sets to beat the highly favored Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 6:1, 6:3, 6:7 (2), 6:4. He is now in the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the second time after 2020.