Alexander Zverev has continued his bid for the Australian Open title, despite dropping a set against Ugo Humbert.
Zverev is a two-time Grand Slam finalist, and has been a set away from both the US Open (2020) and Roland Garros (2024) titles.
This has led to Zverev being described as the best player without a major, but the German will be hoping to get rid of that tag before he retires.
So far, he has beaten Humbert, Lucas Pouille and Pedro Martinez, with his third round opponent Jacob Fearnley pitting Zverev alongside Novak Djokovic.
Zverev is now into his 14th Grand Slam quarter-final, where he will play against American number two Tommy Paul.
Alexander Zverev details his relationship with Tommy Paul
Paul has endured a more challenging run to this stage of the Australian Open, despite enjoying straight sets victories in his has last two matches.
His run started off with a five set match against Christopher O’Connell, before Paul battled to a four set victory over Kei Nishikori.
Paul is a former Australian Open semi-finalist from 2023, but Zverev believes that the American is playing his best tennis now.
“I think he grew a lot as a player, right? He’s close to being top 10 in the world,” Zverev said in his press conference. “He had some great results at Grand Slams, Masters events. He’s a top player now.
“Very, very different to the last few times I played him. Again, a lot of time has passed since then. But I’m looking forward to this match.”
Despite playing Paul for a place in a Grand Slam semi-final, Zverev has praised his upcoming opponent and revealed their friendship.
“I have massive respect for him,” said the world number two. “He’s someone I get along very, very well in the locker room and outside the courts.
“Playing someone like that in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, there’s a reason why they are quarterfinalists and there’s a reason why they won four matches to get to that point. I expect a very tough battle.”
What has Alexander Zverev said about his previous matches with Tommy Paul?
Zverev alluded to his previous meetings with Paul, having not played him for nearly three years.
Both of their matches have gone the way of the American, that included a tight three set battle at Indian Wells in 2022.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2020 | Mexican Open | Paul beat Zverev, 6-3 6-4 |
| 2022 | Indian Wells | Paul beat Zverev, 6-2 4-6 7-6(2) |
These matches against Paul still appear to be fresh in the memory of Zverev, who has implied that they were completely different to each other.
“I remember Indian Wells, 7-6 in the third, I think. Very close match,” recalled Zverev. “He played extremely well. I remember that. He played extremely well in the close moments. The tie-breaker in the third set, might have been even 7-love. I’m not sure. It was something along those lines. He played an incredible match.
“I lost to him once in Acapulco where I think I served 15 double faults in a straight-sets loss. I had my problems back then, I would say. Again, I think one of those times was an incredible match and one of those times was an extremely bad match from me. The more realistic thing to look at is obviously Indian Wells, which I will do with my team.”
Zverev and Paul will reignite their head-to-head in their Australian Open quarter-final on Tuesday January 21.
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