Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev will reunite at the Australian Open, with the winner earning a place in the final.
Zverev’s serve has been praised by Mats Wilander ahead of the match in Melbourne, which takes place at Rod Laver Arena.
It represents a first-ever Australian Open semifinal for Alcaraz, who has just knocked out home favorite Alex de Minaur.
Zverev won his Australian Open quarterfinal with Learner Tien, and is now looking to edge ahead of the ATP number one in their head-to-head.
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Jim Courier recalls ‘bad tactics’ from Carlos Alcaraz against Alexander Zverev
Alcaraz and Zverev have a 6-6 head-to-head record going into the match, with one of their previous clashes having now been analysed by Jim Courier.
“These guys played in the quarterfinals here two years ago, and Zverev beat him,” he said on Tennis Channel. “But really, Alcaraz helped him.
“Alcaraz kind of beat himself with some bad tactics on the court. He did not play to Sascha’s forehand in the biggest moments of the match. And Zverev was getting tight.
“He was not accelerating on that forehand, and for whatever reason Alcaraz kept attacking the backhand, played right into his hands. So if he gets the tactics right, Zverev is going to have to hit the forehand down the line big.
“That’s going to be the most important shot on the court for Zverev. If he can hit the forehand down the line, he can keep Alcaraz a little bit guessing.”
Zverev defeated Alcaraz 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(2-7), 6-4 in that 2024 meeting, but was then knocked out by Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.
He recovered by going one step further a year later, although the German was beaten in the 2025 final by Jannik Sinner.
Lindsay Davenport intrigued if Alexander Zverev will leave comfort zone vs Carlos Alcaraz
Courier’s fellow legend Lindsay Davenport has also shared her take on the next instalment of Alcaraz versus Zverev, saying: “I can’t wait to see how Zverev approaches this match.
“I mean, we talk about it all the time in the bigger matches, a lot of times he steps backwards, and he has to go out after this match. He almost has to red line his game, particularly on that forehand.
“Love the way he competed and served against Learner Tien. He needs a serve, but he also needs to be able to get ahead in some of the baseline exchanges.
“It’s not easy to do against Carlos, and fascinated to see if Zverev is willing to come out of his comfort zone to try and make that happen.”
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Zverev hit 24 aces against Tien, and will indeed need a similarly lethal service game if he is to get past the world number one.
The match sees the top seed take on the third seed, with second seed Sinner and fourth seed Novak Djokovic meeting in the other semifinal.
It represents the first time since the 2019 French Open that all four top seeds have reached that stage of a Grand Slam.
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