Australian Open: Alexander Zverev leaves the ghost atmosphere cold - quarter-finals in Melbourne and duel against Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev has so far presented himself as an expert on the state of emergency tennis. In the quarter-finals, Novak Djokovic is now "the toughest opponent there is in Melbourne".
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Feb 14, 2021, 03:09 pm
Alexander Zverev had just hammered his 15th ace into the opposing field at the first match point when loud applause rattled through the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. However, it was only tinny applause from the can, recorded electronically and robotically, which underscored Zverev's almost flawless 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 3 round of 16 victory against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic on early Sunday evening. There are no more spectators at the Australian Open for the time being, there are also no traces of the typical Grand Slam atmosphere at the other end of the world, but Zverev, now challenged in the quarter-finals against world number one Novak Djokovic on Tuesday, leaves the ghostly atmosphere in the pandemic lockdown, as in recent months, rather cold.
At the US Open, the world number seven moved behind closed doors to the final, only missing his first Grand Slam coup by winning two points in the deserted Arthur Ashe tennis palace. Then he won two tournaments without fans in Cologne's Lanxess Arena in the somewhat strange Corona autumn - and now the 23-year-old is staging the next successful move in a state of emergency Down Under with professional sobriety. “I got used to this reality with a heavy heart,” says Zverev, “I miss the audience. But now I want to make the best of it. That is my claim. Whenever I go out onto the field. "
So far, two wins against Djokovic
He has now won 50 Grand Slam games, and Sunday, the day of his victory against Lajovic, was a small milestone in the Hamburg native's career. Also because he has now made it into the round of the last eight for the fifth time at the most precious opportunities in professional tour operations, the major events - that is, he was involved in that Grand Slam phase in which the action once again developed its own dynamic , the thrill and the challenge almost potentially increase. In Melbourne this claim could not be truer, because with Djokovic ( four-set winner in the round of 16 against the Canadian Milos Raonic ) he faces the toughest possible rival on Tuesday's night show, the eight-time tournament triumphant.
Zverev has won two of the seven games so far against the 33-year-old Serbian grandmaster, the final victory at the 2018 Tennis World Cup in London was his greatest moment of success ever. But Zverev lost all of the last four matches against Djokovic, just once again at the ATP Cup in the warm-up phase before the Australian Open. “There is no tougher opponent than him in Melbourne. This is his absolute favorite place, "says Zverev about Djokovic," I assume that he is also fully fit. "In the last few days, a controversy over a hip injury at Djokovic had ignited, the Serb was once again accused, not entirely being truthful about the severity of one's problems.
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Zverev is definitely going from a position of strength into the eighth top match against the most successful player in recent years. In contrast to previous, complicated Grand Slam missions, the German hardly wasted unnecessary energy in the first stages of the tournament, his energy management was “absolutely optimal”, says TV expert Boris Becker, “you want to be able to improve when things are really serious will be at such a tournament. ”Against Lajovic, Zverev had to go twice the full distance in hours of French Open sliding exercises, but now the German did his job with no frills efficiency in three sets, only stood on the blue-washed court for 144 minutes. Zverev was the self-confident master of events, at all times. One never had the impression that he could lose the game against the extremely uncomfortable colleague from Belgrade.
Zverev also wants to exercise dominance against the controversial Capitano of the industry, against Djokovic, who often appears unhappy in the Corona crisis. "I have to determine the game, take my heart in my hand," said Zverev, who with all the power must not forget precision and control. The decisive factor is Zverev's serve, observed Becker: "If he serves well, with a high percentage at the first serve, it will be difficult for Novak too."
Thiem fails because of Dimitrov
Meanwhile, last year's Melbourne finalist Dominic Thiem had to make his way home helpless, after his 4: 6, 4: 6, 0: 6 defeat against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov , the highly traded Austrian spoke of a "mostly black day". Thiem looked exhausted after a successful comeback in the third round against Australia's scandal noodle Nick Kyrgios, at the latest after the lost second set, the reigning US Open champion had nothing to mentally add to Dimitrov. Dimitrov now sensationally meets the Russian Aslan Karatsev, who advanced to the quarter-finals as the first Grand Slam debutant since the German Alex Radulescu (1996 Wimbledon).
In the usually unpredictable women's competition, there were no big surprises on Sunday. Serena Williams, once again on the hunt for the Grand Slam record number 24, now meets Simona Halep in the quarter-finals after her 6: 4, 2: 6, 6: 4 success over Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) - the Romanian was in French Open winner Iga Swiatek (Poland) 3: 6, 6: 1 and 6: 4 down a battle of attrition . Top favorite Naomi Osaka (Japan) fended off two match points in the best tournament match so far and turned a 3: 5 deficit in the decisive set to a 4: 6, 6: 4, 7: 5 victory against the strong Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
Here is the men's single tableau
Here the single tableau of women
laver arena