Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Flying under the radar, Alexander Zverev has stormed back into the Australian Open quarter-finals in search of a long-awaited maiden grand slam title.
The German world No.2 faced his first real test of the tournament in Melbourne on Sunday night against 14th-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
The 27-year-old passed with flying colours, bouncing back from dropping the second set to win 6-1 2-6 6-3 6-2 in two hours and 16 minutes.
“I’m extremely happy to be in the quarter-finals only losing one set,” Zverev told the crowd on John Cain Arena.
“My opponent played incredible.”
The left-handed Humbert beat Zverev in their first head-to-head battle at Halle in 2021 but lost to him at the Paris Masters in each of the past two years, including the 2024 final.
Humbert didn’t go down without a fight but had no answer for the big-serving German, who smashed 19 aces and 43 winners to his 12 aces and 23 winners.
“In the last few months, he did so many steps forward,” Zverev said of Humbert.
“He is improving. He’s (ranked) 14 in the world and he has big chance of becoming a top-10 player very soon.”
After withdrawing from the United Cup due to a biceps strain, Zverev cruised into the second week of the Open with straight-sets wins over unseeded opponents Jacob Fearnley, Pedro Martínez and Lucas Pouille.
He was “very unsure” of his level when arriving in Melbourne but has been pleasantly surprised.
“I couldn’t really play many points in practice. I couldn’t really prepare the way I wanted to. That’s why I’m even more happy to be in the quarter-finals,” Zverev said.
“I definitely want to play three more matches here but we’ll see how that goes.”
He will battle 12th seed Tommy Paul for a semi-final spot, having lost to the American in their two previous meetings in 2020 and 2022.
“I’ve never actually beaten him, funnily enough,” Zverev said.
“He’s somebody else who’s also improved quite a lot, on the brink of becoming a top-10 player.
“I’ve got to be at my best. I’ve got to play the way I played in the first week, hopefully a little bit better.”
Zverev fell at last year’s semi-final stage in Melbourne, capitulating to Russian Daniil Medvedev after leading two sets to love.
The German then lost a five-set heartbreaker to Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final, his first grand slam title decider since the 2020 US Open, when he was also beaten in five sets by Austrian Dominic Thiem.
