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German third seed Alexander Zverev thanked his serve for guiding him past an “unbelievable” Learner Tien and into the Australian Open semi-finals.<\/b><\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Tien, ranked 29th in the world, was bidding to become the youngest man to reach the last four in Melbourne for 34 years.<\/p>\n
But Zverev produced a serving masterclass to reach his 10th Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-6 (7-3) victory on Rod Laver Arena.<\/p>\n
A beaten finalist last year, Zverev fired down 24 aces and committed just one double fault alongside winning 76% of his first-serve points.<\/p>\n
He saved all three break points he faced with an unreturned serve.<\/p>\n
“Learner from the baseline was playing unbelievable,” Zverev, 28, said.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think I’ve played anyone who plays that well from the baseline for a very long time.<\/p>\n
“Without my 20 aces – or something like that – I probably would not have won today, so I’m very happy with my serve.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n