Against Cerundolo, Zverev showed his best performance so far at this year’s Australian Open. The 28-year-old converted his second match point after 2:12 hours and remained without losing a set for the first time in this year’s tournament. In the fight for the semi-finals, Zverev will now face the American whiz kid Learner Tien on Tuesday.
Alcaraz continues without losing a set
Previously, world number one Carlos Alcaraz had also confidently made it to the quarter-finals. The 22-year-old Spaniard beat American Tommy Paul 7:6 (8:6), 6:4, 7:5 in the round of 16 and is still without losing a set in Melbourne this year. Alcaraz, who has never made it past the quarterfinals at the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, needed 2:44 hours for his success.
“I’m very happy with my level. I think it was a game at a very high level,” said Alcaraz. The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that the Spaniard has not won so far.
The viewer suffers a faint attack
The game in the Rod Laver Arena had to be interrupted for almost a quarter of an hour in the tiebreak of the first set because an elderly woman in the stands suffered a faint attack. The woman was able to leave the arena, accompanied by paramedics, but running.
Alcaraz didn’t let the short break disrupt his rhythm and took the first set shortly after play resumed. Unlike his big rival Jannik Sinner the day before, Alcaraz showed a confident performance overall.
Sinner had to struggle with cramps all over his body in his round of 16 against American Eliot Spizzirri in the great heat on Saturday. Only when the roof over the Rod Laver Arena was closed did Sinner get the problems under control. However, on Sunday it was significantly cooler in Melbourne during the Alcaraz game.
Sabalenka in the quarterfinals
Meanwhile, world number one Aryna Sabalenka became the first player to reach the quarterfinals. The two-time Melbourne winner beat Victoria Mboko from Canada 6:1, 7:6 (7:1) in the round of 16 and is now in the last eight of a Grand Slam tournament for the 13th time in a row.
Sabalenka, who surprisingly lost to the American Madison Keys in the final last year, converted her fifth match point after 86 minutes in the Rod Laver Arena. She is now facing 18-year-old Serbian Iva Jovic, who outclassed Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes and is in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
The 27-year-old from Belarus had everything under control for a long time against the Canadian who was eight years younger than her. Sabalenka led 6:1, 4:1 before Mboko improved and gave the big favorite a tough fight. With the score at 4:5, the Canadian fended off three match points and then took Sabalenka’s serve.
The decision now had to be made in the tiebreak, where Sabalenka once again demonstrated her impressive nerve strength. It was the 20th tiebreak in a row won by the world number one. The last time she lost a tiebreak was at the French Open 2023.
