Alexander Zverev reaches the Australian Open 2026 semi-finals

JAKARTA - German tennis player Alexander Zverev has made it to the semifinals of the 2026 Australian Open, which keeps his hopes of winning his first Grand Slam title alive.

The world number three got a ticket after defeating the young American, Learner Tien, in a four-set match that ended with a score of 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, and 7-6 (7/3) on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

Zverev dominated the service in the match which took place under the roof of the Rod Laver Arena to avoid Melbourne's extreme weather which reached 45 degrees Celsius.

"Without aces, I probably wouldn't have won today's match. I'm very satisfied with my serve," Zverev said as reported by France 24.

Throughout the match, Zverev managed to record 24 aces and only made one double fault. That's twice as many as his opponent who only recorded 11 aces.

Learner, 20, is the lowest-ranked player (29th in the world) and the youngest remaining in the men's singles draw of the season-opening Grand Slam.

"Learner's game from the back line is amazing. What he showed was really impressive," said Zverev praising Learner's performance who managed to trouble him by stealing the second set via a tie-break.

Zverev was dominant in the first set, but lost momentum in the second set so that his opponent rose to catch up. The 28-year-old then only needed 28 minutes to close the third set.

Zverev's fight in the fourth set was not easy either because he was 5-6 behind. However, he was able to get out of the pressure and force a tiebreak and lock in a dramatic victory.

The result is the umpteenth opportunity that Zverev has had to quench his thirst for a Grand Slam title. He was runner-up at the 2020 US Open, Roland Garros 2024, and suffered a painful defeat from Jannik Sinner in last year's Australian Open final.

In the semifinals, Zverev will face the winner between world number one Carlos Alcaraz or host representative Alex de Minaur.