Zverev One Set From First Grand Slam SF

Alexander Zverev is two sets away from completing an inspired comeback to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final. The seventh seed shook off a slow start against 2014 champion and No. 15 seed Stan Wawrinka in their Australian Open quarter-final clash on Wednesday, raising his game to move ahead 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The winner of this match will face top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal or fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem. Although Zverev trails Nadal 1-5 in their ATPHead2Head rivalry, he won their most recent clash in last year’s Nitto ATP Finals. He’s 2-6 against Thiem in their series, with the Austrian prevailing two months ago in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals.

Although Wawrinka trails Nadal 3-19 in their rivalry, one of those wins came in the 2014 Australian Open final. The Swiss leads Thiem 3-1 in their series, but they haven’t faced each other in three years.

Zverev started slowly and struggled to find the range on his shots. The German missed a half-volley to lose his opening service game, then shanked a forehand into the stands two games later to trail by a double break.

Meanwhile, Wawrinka came out in peak form. Opening up on his backhand and leaning into his forehand, he cracked clean winners from all parts of the court and dominated the baseline exchanges. The Swiss raced through the first five games and dropped just three points on serve (16/19) en route to taking the opening set.

Zverev adjusted his tactics in the second set and began playing high-risk tennis in a bid to keep the points short. He also beefed up his first-serve percentage from 61 per cent in the first set to 90 per cent in the second set, allowing him to convincingly cruise through his service games.

The added pressure resulted in Wawrinka’s normally reliable forehand breaking down. With his unforced error count in the second set nearly triple that of the first set (11 to 4), his mistakes enabled Zverev to grab the lone break of the set at 4-3 and go on to level the match.

Both players traded early breaks to start the third set, but it was Zverev who proved to be steadier in rallies as Wawrinka continued to blow hot and cold. The seventh seed broke once more at 2-2 after a grueling 20-shot rally saw the Swiss hit a slice backhand into the net.

As Wawrinka’s confidence in his forehand continued to diminish, he stopped stepping into it and appeared uncertain with his footing when attacking short balls. The 2014 champion attempted to work around the problem and bravely saved two set points at 5-3, eventually holding serve with a trademark backhand winner. But the deficit was too much to overcome and Zverev comfortably held in the next game for a commanding advantage.

More to come…