Alexander Zverev was hampered by a feather before reaching the 2025 Australian Open semi-finals for the second consecutive year on Tuesday, beating Tommy Paul and moving closer to his first Grand Slam title One step forward.
The world No. 2 performed well in two tiebreaks on a hot and windy day, winning 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/0), 2-6, 6- 1 defeated the 12th player. American Seeds.
Germany’s Zverev also reached the semifinals in 2020, losing to Dominic Thiem; last year, he lost to Daniil Medvedev in five sets after leading 2-0.
Now, the 27-year-old is in his ninth Grand Slam semi-final, but in a decade of trying, he has never been able to go all the way and be crowned champion.
He needs to beat ten-time Melbourne champion Novak Djokovic or Spain’s third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who they meet later, to reach Sunday’s final and keep his shot.
“To be honest, I should have lost two sets,” said Zverev, who is trying to become the first German to win a Grand Slam since Boris Becker in 1996.
“I didn’t play well, but I thought he played well. But I somehow won the first set and somehow won the second set. The fourth set was definitely the best I played, obviously. Very happy to be back in the semi-finals,” he added.
Zverev lost to Hugo Humbert in the fourth round and repeated the feat against the tenacious Paul.
The American, also 27, earned the match’s first break point in the fifth game, but Zverev fought it back to hold serve at 3-2 and the two exchanged blows.
The unrelenting Paul kept up the pressure, and a clever lob brought him three break points and the score reached 5-5. Zverev saved two shots, but Paul saved the third as the German backhanded into the net.
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Undeterred, Zverev fought straight back to take the match to the decider, where he dominated the tiebreak while Paul was frustrated by the controversial call and angry with the referee.
The American regrouped and hit a fiery backhand winner to break serve in the second set and preserve a 3-0 lead.
This time, it was Zverev’s turn to lose his cool as the German had a feather float in front of him as he hit the ball on the break point, prompting the referee to call for a replay.
“Come on, it’s unbelievable on the break point,” he shouted, before venting his anger at Paul by breaking back to love.
The game entered another tiebreaker, and Paul was absent again.
But Paul broke serve early in the third set and once again led 5-3 after a Zverev service error, taking the match into the fourth set, only to let go of his forehand to give his opponent a 2-0 lead.
Zverev sensed victory, leading 5-0 as Paul languished, sealing victory with an ace on his third match point.
