World no. 2 Alexander Zverev will compete in his third Major final at the Australian Open! The German faced the ten-time champion in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic, and prevailed in the opening set 7-6 after 80 minutes of a thrilling battle.
Novak missed a volley at 5-6 in the tie break and retired, leaving the court due to a leg injury experienced in the quarter-final duel against Carlos Alcaraz. Thus, Zverev will seek his first Major crown against Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton on Sunday.
Djokovic gave everything to enter the match and challenge his good friend. The veteran did not train on Wednesday and Thursday, dealing with an injury and working with his team to overcome it and compete at 100% on Friday.
However, he could not endure an entire match. HepushedZverev to the limits in the opener before retiring at Majors for the first time since the US Open 2019. Novak survived five break points in the first set and missed three opportunities to steal the rival's serve.
Alexander served at 76% and dropped seven points behind the initial shot, none in the tie break. The German landed 24 winners and 15 unforced errors and kept the pressure on the other side. The Serb played against four break points in the third game of the duel.
He denied them and held to avoid an early setback. The German experienced his only loose service game in the next one, defending three break points and leveling the score at 2-2. Djokovic saved another break point in the ninth game and extended the battle.
The set went into a tie break, and the servers claimed the opening 11 points. Zverev leveled the score at 5-5 with a service winner and generated a set point with a forehand down the line winner. Novak missed a routine volley at the net at 5-6, dropping the opener and retiring.
