Zverev on Australian Open rematch with Alcaraz: “I expect it to be very different”

For a second consecutive Grand Slam, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev will go head-to-head in the quarter-finals. Zverev hopes the outcome isn’t the same as their US Open result

Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

January 22, 2024

Australian Open •Quarter-final • completed

See draw

A. ZverevvsC. Alcaraz

At the 2023 US Open, Alexander Zverev outlasted Jannik Sinner 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in a fourth-round thriller. It lasted four hours and 41 minutes, ending at 1:39 in the morning.

Two days later, Zverev had to face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows. Unsurprisingly, it did not go well for the German. Alcaraz capitalised on a fatigued opponent to cruise 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Will it be deja vu all over again for Zverev at the 2024 Australian Open?

It’s possible, because the 26-year-old has once again endured a rough road to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam. Although he has not had to endure anything quite like what Sinner threw at him, it hasn’t been easy for Zverev at Melbourne Park. The world No 6 has played two five-setters, both of which required decisive tiebreakers. He held off Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(10-7) before beating Cameron Norrie 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(10-3) on Monday evening.

I’m tired, four sure…. But I’m not dead.
Alexander Zverev

Zverev needed four hours and 31 minutes to get past Klein; his match against Norrie lasted four hours and five minutes.

So, what does the sixth seed have left in the tank? He hopes — and expects — a lot more than he did in New York.

“If you play less you are fresher, but I feel okay,” Zverev said following his win over Norrie. “I’m not like (I was at the) US Open, where I was completely dead and where I felt like I’m physically exhausted. I’m tired, for sure, because I played 7-6 in the fifth set again two times out of the last three matches. But I’m not dead. I’m not completely exhausted. I’m not in the same physical state I was in the US Open.

“I expect it to be very different, to be honest.”

The potential fatigue factor aside, Zverev has reason to be confident against Alcaraz. He leads the head-to-head series 4-3 after avenging the US Open defeat with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 victory during round-robin competition at the Nitto ATP Finals. Zverev also beat the Spaniard in a fourth-set tiebreaker in the 2022 Roland-Garros quarter-finals.

“He is a really great player,” Alcaraz commented. “He has beaten great guys here in this tournament. Obviously I love playing against him. It’s always a tough battle.”