Alexander Zverev has so far spoiled German tennis fans with almost flawless performances at the Australian Open 2026. The number three in the world rankings is already in the semi-finals and can still hope for the first Grand Slam success of his career. From that point on, things look bleak for the DTB – however, an 18-year-old still has the chance to follow in Zverev’s footsteps: Jamie Mackenzie.
The number seven in the junior world rankings reached the quarter-finals of the junior competition in Melbourne on Wednesday. Mackenzie prevailed in a close match with 7:5 and 6:4 against the Swiss Flynn Thomas. So far, the German, who is seeded fifth down under, has not given up a set during the tournament.
The key to success against Thomas was that Mackenzie kept his nerve at the right moments. When the score was 5:5, he took his opponent’s serve for the second time in the first set, there was a direct rebreak threat again, but Mackenzie fended off a whopping four break points and closed the bag with his first chance.
In the second round, the DTB hope served extremely confidently, only had to survive a tighter service game and then took the serve from Thomas when the score was 4:4. Mackenzie got a clean sheet in the last game.
There have been four German winners so far
In the quarterfinals, however, one of the highest possible hurdles awaits: the Japanese Ryo Tabata, who is already in the top 1000 of the ATP rankings.
Should Mackenzie continue his winning streak and even win the title in the end, he would emulate Zverev, among others.
The German number one was the last German to win the Australian Open junior competition in 2014. Daniel Elsner (1997), Nicolas Kiefer (1995) and Dirk Dier (1990) also triumphed.
Of course, the title is not a guarantee for a great career, but the list of winners looks very promising. In addition to Zverev, the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (2019), the Australian Nick Kyrgios (2013) and the Frenchman Gael Monfils (2004) won, among others.
