Alexander Zverev taken by surprise with Tommy Paul scare at Australian Open: "I should've been down 0-2"

Alexander Zverev acknowledged that Tommy Paul played better than him in the first two sets of their quarterfinal clash at the 2025 Australian Open. The German defeated the American in four sets to reach his third semifinal at the hardcourt Major.

Zverev won both the first and the second sets against Paul after one-sided tiebreaks [7-6(1), 7-6(0)]. However, the stories of the sets themselves were something else. The 12th-seeded American looked as if he had the edge over the No. 2 seed in both, only to squander the opportunities that came his way to clinch them.

In his post-match interview on Rod Laver Arena, the German said:

"To be honest, I should have been down two sets to love. You know, his serve in both of those sets, he played better than me. I was not playing great and I thought he was. So, I somehow won the first set, somehow won the second set, and I'm two sets to love all of a sudden and I need only one more set." (0:18)

Tommy Paul would eventually close the gap by winning the third set 6-2 but Alexander Zverev sealed victory with an emphatic 6-1 fourth-set win. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up reflected on his fourth-set performance proudly, saying:

"And the fourth set, it was definitely the best that I've played and I'm extremely happy to be back in the semifinals."

Zverev suffered heartbreaks in both of his Australian Open semifinal outings before.

Alexander Zverev lost to Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open 2020 SF; tasted defeat at Daniil Medvedev's hands at the same stage last year

Alexander Zverev leaving the court after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open semifinals (Source: Getty)

Against the now-retired Dominic Thiem in the 2020 Australian Open semifinals, Alexander Zverev established a one-set lead but couldn't capitalize on it. The Austrian eventually ousted the German with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) win. Thiem would ultimately finish the tournament as the runner-up to Novak Djokovic.

There was more Australian Open heartbreak in store for Zverev in last year's semifinals against Daniil Medvedev. He established a commanding 7-5, 6-3 lead over the Russian. But Medvedev rallied to turn things around in his favor, winning the last three sets 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-3. Medvedev then went on to experience a similar kind of heartbreak in the final himself.

This time, Zverev will face either record 10-time Australian Open champion Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.