عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Alexander Zverev Returns to Australian Open Quarterfinals, Faces Tommy Paul Next

Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his Men's Singles round four match against Ugo Humbert of France at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2025. (EPA)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his Men's Singles round four match against Ugo Humbert of France at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2025. (EPA)
TT
TT

Alexander Zverev Returns to Australian Open Quarterfinals, Faces Tommy Paul Next

Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his Men's Singles round four match against Ugo Humbert of France at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2025. (EPA)
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates winning his Men's Singles round four match against Ugo Humbert of France at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2025. (EPA)

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the fourth time by beating No. 14 Ugo Humbert 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 with the help of 19 aces and a 43-23 advantage in total winners on Sunday night.

Next up for two-time major runner-up Zverev will be a matchup Tuesday against 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul, who ended Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s run of comebacks and reached his third Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory earlier.

Zverev did not have much of a chance to get ready before heading to Australia: He sat out the United Cup team competition because of an arm injury.

“A week ago, I was very unsure of my level. I was very unsure of my tennis,” the 27-year-old German said. “Couldn't really play a lot of sets in practice. Couldn't really prepare the way I wanted to.”

Paul needed less than 1 1/2 hours on Sunday to finish off a diminished opponent. The 66th-ranked Davidovich Fokina had won his last two matches despite dropping the first two sets in both.

“What he did is unreal the past couple matches. ... To do it twice in a row is amazing,” Paul said.

But Paul won nearly twice as many points as his Spanish rival, 85 to 43, and will be well-rested heading into the showdown with Zverev.

“This week, I did something a little different, where I haven’t practiced on the days in between my matches at all. Like, I haven’t even stepped on the court, just ’cause I started with a five-setter, and my body was a little tired. Every match has gotten a little shorter since then,” said Paul, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in North Carolina.

“I mean, my body feels great right now. Especially after the match today, it was a pretty short one,” Paul said. “It’s helpful (for) going deep into tournaments.”

His best showing at any Slam was getting to the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2023. He will try to repeat that by getting past Zverev, who lost in the finals of the 2020 US Open and the 2024 French Open.

A year ago, Zverev exited in the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the second time.

Paul was one of four American men to reach the fourth round in Australia this year. No. 21 Ben Shelton, qualifier Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen will try to join him in the quarterfinals when they play fourth-round matches on Monday.

Paul has won both matches he and Zverev have played against each other, but the most recent was in 2022.

“I've got to be at my best,” Zverev said. “I've got to play the way I did the first week — hopefully a little bit better.”

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Gauff Drops Set but Beats Belinda Bencic to Reach Australian Open Quarterfinals

Coco Gauff of the US serves the ball to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)
Coco Gauff of the US serves the ball to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)
TT
TT

Gauff Drops Set but Beats Belinda Bencic to Reach Australian Open Quarterfinals

Coco Gauff of the US serves the ball to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)
Coco Gauff of the US serves the ball to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP)

Coco Gauff's consecutive-set streak ended at the Australian Open. Her bid for a second Grand Slam title continued on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 comeback victory over Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

Afterward, Gauff drew a broken heart on the lens of a courtside TV camera with the message, “RIP TikTok USA,” a reference to the ban of the popular app back home.

Until Sunday, Gauff — a 20-year-old from Florida who won the 2023 US Open as a teenager — had collected all 16 sets she'd played this year and 24 of her past 25 dating to the end of last season, which included a title at the WTA Finals.

“In the first set, she played great tennis, and it was tough for me to be on the offense,” Gauff said after grabbing the last five games against Bencic. “I just played more aggressively in the second set and then also the third set.”

The tournament's No. 3 seed was unable to control her shots well enough at the start against Bencic on a steamy early afternoon in Rod Laver Arena, where the temperature hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and the blue playing surface was bathed in sunlight.

Spectators seated along the sides of the court fanned themselves; Gauff sought relief from cool air provided at the players' sideline benches and pressed an ice pack against her face during one break in the action.

As trouble mounted late in the first set, in which Bencic broke in each of Gauff's last two service games — one of which ended with a pair of double-faults — the American kept missing the mark, compiling a whopping 20 unforced errors.

When her shots would land into the net or too long or too wide, or Bencic's would fall beyond her reach, Gauff repeatedly turned toward her coaches' box and put her arms wide with palms up, as if to ask, “What am I supposed to do?” After some of her nine double-faults, Gauff slapped her leg.

But Gauff recalibrated after the hour-plus first set, accumulating points in bunches, repeatedly hammering returns of serve and doing a much better job of targeting spots from the baseline. In sum, she was very much back to her best self. Not only did Gauff cut her unforced errors in half in the second set, but she also put together a 17-2 edge in winners over that span.

By the end, Gauff was in total control, and she motioned to the crowd for more noise after a reflex volley to win a point in the final game.

“Obviously there’s still a lot to go for me to accomplish my goal,” Gauff said, “but I can say that I’m proud of myself and happy with how I performed.”

Part of the problem in the early going, to be sure, was that Bencic is a terrific ball-striker. Her current ranking of No. 294 is misleading: The 27-year-old from Switzerland, who reached a career best of No. 4, only returned to action in October from maternity leave.

Her best past results have arrived on hard courts, including a run to the semifinals of the US Open in 2019 and a singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She's now 0-3 in fourth-round matches at Melbourne Park, though, losing previously to International Tennis Hall of Fame member Maria Sharapova in 2016 and to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka two years ago.

Gauff now faces No. 11 Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Badosa defeated Olga Danilovic 6-1, 7-6 (2) to get to the final eight in Melbourne for the first time.

The winner of Gauff vs. Badosa will play either No. 1 Sabalenka, who is seeking a third consecutive Australian Open title, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 French Open runner-up.

Sabalenka stretched her winning streak in Melbourne to 18 matches by defeating 14th-seeded Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2, and Pavlyuchenkova beat No. 18 Donna Vekic 7-6 (0), 6-0.

Martina Hingis, from 1997 to 1999, was the last woman with three straight championships in Australia.

A year ago, Gauff reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time, before losing to Sabalenka.

One more win for each and they'll have a rematch in that round. They also met in the US Open final that Gauff won two seasons ago.

“For me, every match is a new opportunity. It’s a new game. You know, it doesn’t matter what happened in the past,” Sabalenka said. “For me, it’s about staying in the moment and focusing on myself and on bringing my best game, because I know that if I’ll be able to bring my best game, I know that I can get the win. So I’m trying to focus on myself.”

The first man into the quarterfinals was No. 12 Tommy Paul of the US, who beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Paul, a semifinalist in Australia in 2023, will face No. 2 Alexander Zverev or No. 14 Ugo Humbert on Tuesday.