MELBOURNE
\nAlexander Zverev said he was playing without pain for the first time in 12 months after last year\u2019s runner-up crushed young American Learner Tien to blast into the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday. Zverev sent down 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (5\/7), 6-1, 7-6 (7\/3) victory and faces world number one Carlos Alcaraz or home hope Alex de Minaur for a place in the Melbourne final.
\nWorld number three Zverev is desperate to finally win a Grand Slam at age 28, having lost three major finals including being well beaten in last year\u2019s title decider by Jannik Sinner. The German\u2019s 2025 season fell away after that, winning just one title in an injury-hit campaign and he also struggled with his mental health, taking a one-month break after losing in the first round at Wimbledon.
\n\u201cThe last 10 days I felt healthy, which is very nice, and pain-free, which I haven\u2019t felt in a long time. Probably in 12 months,\u201d he said after dismantling Tien. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m happy on the court because I am playing pain-free and I\u2019m playing a good level.\u201d
\nThe quarter-final took place under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena to fend off temperatures forecast to hit 45C outside. At 29 in the world, the Californian Tien was the lowest-ranked player left in the men\u2019s draw. He was also the youngest at age 20 and was playing in the biggest match of his life, having never reached the last eight at a major before.
\nIn contrast, Zverev is an experienced campaigner at the deep end of Grand Slams, but has famously never captured one of the four biggest tournaments. He was also a runner-up at the US Open in 2020 and again at the French Open in 2024. The more experienced man made the better start, breaking Tien for a 4-2 lead on the way to clinching the first set.
\nTien, who won his first ATP title in November and is coached by the 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang, went toe-to-toe with Zverev in the second set. With serve dominating they went to a tiebreak, where Zverev upped the ante to go 5-3 up.But Tien refused to buckle and defended brilliantly, clawing back and then overhauling the deficit to level the match.
\nThe American had the crowd on his side but Zverev\u2019s serve was unrelenting and he barrelled into a 5-1 lead in the third set. Zverev romped through the set in 28 minutes as Tien\u2019s unforced error count mounted. With Chang a vocal presence, Tien regathered in the fourth and had a set point at 6-5, only for Zverev to dig himself out of trouble and force the tiebreak.
\nWith his serve blazing, the German raced through the tiebreak to wrap up victory in just three hours and 10 minutes. \u201cWithout my aces I probably would not have won today,\u201d said Zverev, who only had one double fault, on a match point. \u201cObviously very happy with my serve. \u201cLearner off the baseline was playing unbelievable,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cThe way he is playing is incredible.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MELBOURNE Alexander Zverev said he was playing without pain for the first time in 12 months after last year\u2019s runner-up crushed young American Learner Tien to blast into the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday. Zverev sent down 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (5\/7), 6-1, 7-6 (7\/3) victory and faces world number one Carlos Alcaraz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-528311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n