Zverev ousts Alcaraz to move into Australian Open semifinal

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MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 24, (AP): Alexander Zverev made no mistake with his second chance to close out a win over No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday night and moved into an Australian Open semifinal against two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev.
The sixth-seeded Zverev was a up a break in the third set at 5-3 and missed a chance to serve it out but the Olympic champion didn’t blink when he got another chance in the fourth, finishing off a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 victory.

Alcaraz won Wimbledon last year and was the only player to beat 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam match in 2023. The 20-year-old Spaniard won’t get the chance in Australia this time.
Medvedev, a two-time finalist in Australia, outlasted ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to make it to the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the third time in four years. Djokovic will play Jannik Sinner in the other semifinal.
Zverev said he’d been taking some beatings from Medvedev recently but “maybe this will be it. Maybe this will be the place.”

No. 12-seeded Zheng Qinwen and Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska won women’s quarterfinals on Day 11 and will play their first Grand Slam semi when they meet after a night sleep.
The sixth-seeded Zverev was on top of Alcaraz early, getting 16 of his 18 first serves into play in the first set and winning the point on all but two.

The women’s semifinal lineup was completed when Zheng won 10 of the last 11 games to fend off Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 and Yastremska beat beat Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff will meet in the other semifinal.
The 19-year-old Gauff beat Sabalenka in the U.S. Open final and is on a 12-match streak in majors. Sabalenka is on a 12-match winning run at Melbourne Park.

Zheng, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year, regained control midway through the second set after Kalinskaya won six of the last seven points to take the first set in a tiebreaker.
No. 93-ranked Yastremska won three matches in the qualifying tournament and became only the second qualifier to reach the women’s singles semis in Australia in the Open era.

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