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One of Alexander Zverev's few emotional outbursts in the quarterfinals
Photo: Issei Kato / REUTERS
The foreplay:
Maybe that was a sign?
When Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz met at the net to choose sides shortly before the start of their quarter-final match at the Australian Open, the Spaniard's energy level indicator was already extremely high.
Alcaraz wildly simulated some forehand and backhand shots.
He jumped into the air from a standing position a few times, bending his legs.
This intensity is also familiar from Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam winner who has just been injured again.
The opponent should always be somewhat impressed.
But Alcaraz couldn't get away with it with Zverev.
The German seemed more relaxed and calm.
His body language was clearly more defensive, but also self-confident.
After the election, he leisurely trotted toward the baseline.
In many ways, Zverev seemed ready for a big match.
The result:
Alexander Zverev beat Carlos Alcaraz 6:1, 6:3, 6:7 and 6:4 in Melbourne and is in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
His opponent there on Friday is Daniil Medvedev.
For Zverev it was the first victory in a Grand Slam tournament against a player from the top 5 in the world rankings.
Alcaraz is ranked second in the ATP rankings behind Novak Djokovic.
Germany's best tennis player has now reached the semi-finals of a major tournament for the sixth time in his career.
An almost perfect demonstration:
it was a perfect performance from Zverev for two and a half sentences.
Three-time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker told TV channel Eurosport that it was the “best tennis” he had ever seen from Zverev.
You couldn't argue with him.
It was this active, aggressive and self-confident nature that characterized Zverev's game for a long time.
»I symbolically took his racket out of his hand.
“You have to play the same way against Alcaraz,” Zverev revealed his match plan afterwards.
The 26-year-old was very focused and presented the spectators in the Rod Laver Arena with one boss move after another.
That started with the first game.
Zverev Alcaraz took his first serve game to zero.
He quickly led 3-0.
After less than half an hour he had won the first set.
Before this game at the Australian Open, Zverev had already played 13:52 hours, Alcaraz only 8:47 hours.
But only the nervous Spaniard seemed stressed.
This continued in the second set.
Everything was flowing for Zverev and everything really worked.
Until at some point the fear of winning, which is often described among tennis players, struck.
Serve as a winning shot:
It was clear that Zverev's serve would be of crucial importance against one of the best return players in the world.
“Nobody has ever served so well against me,” Alcaraz said afterwards.
Numbers supported his praise.
Zverev had an impressive serve rate of 85 percent throughout the entire match.
That was outstanding.
This time it wasn't so much the speed of the serve that was important, but rather the way and where the Olympic champion served the balls.
Sometimes he opened the field and drove the Spaniard wide.
Sometimes he hit through the middle.
Alcaraz often reached the ball, but Zverev's second shot was usually a winner.
The currently injured Australian tennis professional Nick Kyrgios, who accompanied the match for Eurosport, said afterwards that he had noticed a small change in Zverev's ball throw.
Zverev would no longer throw the ball as high as he used to.
The German confirmed this after the game.
This way he can get into a certain rhythm better and play faster, said Zverev.
It's a small change with a big impact.
In earlier times, he always had phases when his serve let him down - and that was often the deciding factor in the game.
Against Alcaraz, this shot was his winning shot.
The new resilience:
Zverev said afterwards in the winner's interview on the court that when the score was 5:2 in the third set and he was leading the set 2-0, he started to "think a little bit".
"We're all just human and have a certain nervousness within us," he said.
Zverev had to deal with the fear of winning.
Many tennis players know this. “The idea was there,” he confirmed again afterwards.
A phase of weakness on the court followed. Alcaraz won the third set in the tiebreak and held on well for a long time in the fourth set.
The match might have been overturned, but Zverev showed tremendous mental resilience.
He moved from the passenger back to the driver's seat.
The world number 6 withstood the pressure and played very dominant tennis on the few points that were critical for him.
Just like at the beginning.
“Let's go,” he once shouted into the night sky above the arena shortly before his match point was converted.
It was one of the very few moments in which Zverev let himself go.
Otherwise, complete self-control prevailed.
Another key to success.
Even the break in treatment because of the painful blood blisters on his right foot didn't faze him.
"I'm a different player now than I was a year and a half ago," he said at the press conference.
Resistant and extremely focused: This combination also seems promising for the rest of the tournament.
A Seeker:
Alcaraz looked like a seeker for a long time in this match, to the surprise of many.
You always had the feeling that the Spaniard never knew exactly what his plan actually was.
Sometimes he waited and acted from the defensive, then he again sprinkled ill-considered net attacks into his game.
There was no clear tactic in sight.
Only when Zverev showed weaknesses did the 20-year-old become braver.
Then his power tennis also flashed.
In the end, the 45 so-called “unforced errors” were simply too many.
“He constantly stressed and put me under pressure,” said Alcaraz after the match.
He is still satisfied with his overall performance.
But the fact remains: Since winning Wimbledon, Alcaraz has not won a title in eight tournaments played and has only reached one final during this time.
The uncomfortable next opponent:
On Friday, Zverev will face Daniil Medvedev in his next “night session” in Melbourne.
The two share a great rivalry.
The statistics speak for the Russian, who leads in a direct comparison with eleven to seven wins.
Last year Medvedev won five out of six matches.
“I always feel like I’m playing against him,” Zverev said the night after his game against Alcaraz.
Medvedev is "difficult to read"; he has great self-confidence in his own strength, that's how the German described his next opponent, who is particularly feared on the tour because of his grueling style of play.
But Zverev is now in a good position.
Strengthened by a great victory.