Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic won Tuesday’s Australian Open quarter-finals as both men advanced in four sets, albeit in very different circumstances.
Second-seeded Zverev played in the hot, humid day session and came through 7-6(1) 7-6(0) 2-6 6-1 against Tommy Paul, despite the American serving for the first two sets.
Novak Djokovic then saw off Carlos Alcaraz 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in a windy night session, finding a way to push through a left leg injury by revamping his game and producing an incredible baseline smash for to push Alcaraz aside.
Highlights and match stats are below.
Day Ten 2025 Australian Open Quarter Final Results
| Winner | Loser | Score line |
|---|---|---|
| Novak Djokovic (7) | Carlos Alcaraz (3) | 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 |
| Alexander Zverev (2) | Tommy Paul (12) | 7-6(1) 7-6(0) 2-6 6-1 |
Zverev finds a way past Paul
Alexander Zverev is into his third Australian Open semi-final with a 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 win over Tommy Paul in Tuesday’s first quarter-final.
After being the second-best player on court for most of the opening stages, the German somehow found himself two sets to love after saving points in both of the first two sets before dominating the tie breaks.
In the first set, Paul could not serve out and then had a set point on Zverev’s serve at 6-5, but made a mistake and played a poor tiebreak to lose it 7-1.
In the second, Paul broke early but was undone by three consecutive forehand errors to relinquish his advantage. Zverev then saved a set point at 4-5 and dominated the tie-break 7-0 to go up two sets to love.
Paul finally got a set with the third, but in the fourth Zverev played his best tennis of the match, saving two break points and closing 6-2. He shot 56 winners and won 74% of his net points.
While Paul won both of their previous matches and led 2-0 in H2H, this was their first meeting at the Grand Slam level, and I think that’s why the match went Zverev’s way.
If this were a best-of-three ATP 250, Paul would have won handily, but at Majors the American doesn’t have a stellar record – his best win in terms of opponent ranking is against Grigor Dimitrov, who was ranked 20th at. 2020 Australian Open!
Zverev, who also used to underperform at the Slams, has upped his game recently and has proven difficult to beat over five sets. In the more significant moments, he was much more reliable.
On the other hand, Paul committed 56 unforced errors, many on key points, allowing Zverev to take control with his solid baseline play.
To be honest, I should have been down two sets to love. He played better than me. I wasn’t playing well and I thought he was. I somehow won the first set, somehow won the second set, and I’m up two sets to love all of a sudden and I just need one more set. The fourth set was definitely the best I’ve played and I’m obviously very happy to be back in the semi-finals now. Two of the greatest players to probably ever touch a tennis racket. Novak is the greatest of all time right now. Carlos will be one of them when he hangs it up, so it’s a generational battle. They have played Grand Slam finals before. They played the Olympic final last year, so it’s a privilege to see it here in Australia… I think it’s going to be a great game. Zverev on his win.
Match statistics
| Tommy Paul | Alexander Zverev | |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | 9 | 7 |
| Double mistake | 2 | 5 |
| 1st serving percentage | 64% (76/118) | 69% (93/135) |
| 1st Serve point won | 67% (51/76) | 72% (67/93) |
| 2nd serve point won | 50% (21/42) | 52% (22/42) |
| Breakpoints saved | 43% (3/7) | 64% (7/11) |
| Average 1st serving speed | 188 km/h | 207 km/h |
| Average 2nd serving speed | 144 km/h | 176 km/h |
| 1st return point won | 28% (26/93) | 33% (25/76) |
| 2nd return point won | 48% (20/42) | 50% (21/42) |
| Breakpoints converted | 36% (4/11) | 57% (4/7) |
| Winner | 44 | 27 |
| Unforced errors | 56 | 36 |
| Net points won | 74% (35/47) | 73% (24/33) |
| Won service point | 61% (72/118) | 66% (89/135) |
| Return points won | 34% (46/135) | 39% (46/118) |
| Total points won | 47% (118/253) | 53% (135/253) |
| Service game won | 79% (15/19) | 80% (16/20) |
| Return game won | 20% (4/20) | 21% (4/19) |
| Total games won | 49% (19/39) | 51% (20/39) |
Highlights
Djokovic Downs Alcaraz
Novak, he’s overrated; Novak, he’s a has-been! Well, not really, as the 10-time champion delivered a stunning victory on Tuesday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in 3 hours and 37 minutes.
The match started with Djokovic taking advantage of Alcaraz’s sluggish start to take a 2-0 lead. However, the break was soon released after Carlos got on top of a 26-shot rally to break back.
Midway through the first set, Djokovic struggled with a problem with his left leg that made it difficult to go out wide with his forehand.
Alcaraz is far too good not to take advantage, and he broke to lead 5-4. Djokovic then took a medical timeout, but Alcaraz stayed warm and served out the set to love.
Social media, of course, was abuzz with fake injuries and tactical medical timeout theories, but it’s clear from watching that Djoker struggled when pushed wide on his forehand side. Based on the last three games of the opening set, his prognosis did not look good.
However, Djokovic is not just a one-trick pony who has to rely on his defensive abilities. Armed with some painkillers, he responded in the second set by redlining his game and going big on his forehand to break early for 3-0.
Alcaraz hit again, mixing up his power and honing drop shots, but as the set wore on, Djokovic upped his intensity, cutting the rallies even further short as he broke again to level the match at one set apiece.
That trend continued into the third, with Djokovic taking big cuts on the ball and breaking twice en route to a two-sets-to-one lead.
The fourth began with Djokovic immediately breaking serve, an advantage he maintained throughout the set. He overcame several moments of adversity, including saving two points at 4-3 with some super fun before serving for 6-4.
Now to Alcaraz. He came to Melbourne with a refined service movement (a positive adjustment) but had a rather poor serving day and didn’t hit his spots.
He also had a bad day on the return, especially on the second serve (winning just 33%), and he’s playing this matchup a little like Djokovic is in his head.
There was no cohesive game plan; it was just flashes of brilliance and dazzling shots, which are great to watch but don’t always win games.
In the fourth set, Djokovic didn’t serve well for the most part, and it just took some unwavering focus from Alcaraz to get back level.
It’s easier said than done when you face one of the best guys in big moments, but I think he’ll be disappointed not to get back on serve in the eighth game.
Did he fall into the trap of thinking that a hampered Djokovic would give up without a fight and then fight to get back to his peak? Certainly not, as we’ve seen him bounce back from mid-game injuries before, but who knows?
I want to say my utmost respect and admiration for Carlos, everything he stands for and what he has achieved so far in his career. What a great guy he is and an even better competitor. The youngest ever No. 1 in the world, four Grand Slams, and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of him… Maybe not as much as I’d like, but he’ll certainly be around longer than me. I just wish this game today was the final, honestly. It’s one of the most epic matches I’ve played on this course, on any pitch. The medicine started to kick in, and it definitely helped. I had to take another dose, it sounds horrible, but I had to. If I lost the second set, I don’t know if I would continue to play, but I felt better and better. I managed to play a couple of great games to close out the second set. I saw that Carlos was hesitant from the back of the track and I took my chances. I started to feel and move better. It didn’t bother me towards the end of the game [the pain]only in the second set. When the meds start to wear off, I’ll see what reality looks like tomorrow morning. Right now I’m going to try to be in the moment and enjoy this victory. Djokovic on his win and injury.
Match statistics
| Novak Djokovic | Carlos Alcaraz | |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | 5 | 10 |
| Double mistake | 3 | 5 |
| 1st serving percentage | 63% | 74% |
| 1st Serve point won | 63% (54/86) | 67% (62/92) |
| 2nd serve point won | 58% (29/50) | 33% (11/33) |
| Breakpoints saved | 64% (7/11) | 54% (7/13) |
| Average 1st serving speed | 188 km/h | 190 km/h |
| Average 2nd serving speed | 155 km/h | 153 km/h |
| 1st return point won | 33% (30/92) | 37% (32/86) |
| 2nd return point won | 67% (22/33) | 42% (21/50) |
| Breakpoints converted | 46% (6/13) | 36% (4/11) |
| Winner | 31 | 50 |
| Unforced errors | 27 | 40 |
| Net points won | 65% (22/34) | 64% (18/28) |
| Won service point | 61% (83/136) | 58% (73/125) |
| Return points won | 42% (52/125) | 39% (53/136) |
| Total points won | 52% (135/261) | 48% (126/261) |
| Service game won | 80% (16/20) | 68% (13/19) |
| Return game won | 32% (6/19) | 20% (4/20) |
| Total games won | 56% (22/39) | 44% (17/39) |
Highlights
Australian Open Day 11 quarter-final matches
- Jannik Sinner (1) vs Alex de Minaur (8)
- Ben Shelton (21) vs Lorenzo Sonego
