Alexander Zverev regroups to defeat Learner Tien to advance to Australian Open SF | ATP Tour

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Zverev regroups, tames Tian En and returns to Australian Open Grand Slam

Germans await victory for Alcaraz vs. De Minaur

January 27, 2026

Alexander Zverev advanced to his third consecutive Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday, ending Learner Tien’s career-best Grand Slam run. The German reached his third Grand Slam final in Melbourne last year, winning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, 7-6(3) to retain his bid for a first Grand Slam title.

With the roof of Rod Laver Arena closed due to sweltering heat, the PIF ATP No. 3 took control of the match with a strong and consistent serve, hitting 24 aces, according to Infosys Stats. Zverev saved all three break points he faced in service games without a return – including one that doubled as a set point at 5-6 in the fourth set – and held Tian apart with dominant groundstrokes 0-4, winning 106 of those encounters to his opponent’s 68.

“Unbelievable baseline learner. I don’t think I’ve played against anyone who’s such a good baseline player in a long time,” Zverev said of the 20-year-old to loud cheers from the crowd. “If it weren’t for me [24] Ace, I may not win today. Obviously I’m very happy with my serve and happy to be back in the semifinals. “

Semifinals✈️@AlexZverev Defeated Tien and reached the semi-finals in Melbourne for the fourth time.@Australian Open | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/3gBr9yFKI6

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 27, 2026

After an upset victory over Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round, No. 25 seed Tiann scored four points in a row to win the second-set tiebreaker from 3/5 down, surprising Zverev. But a better serve helped the German regroup and advance to the third set.

The patient Tian has more success in the longer games, doing damage with precision rather than force and using width effectively to open up the pitch. But Zverev’s serve continued to gain free points, allowing the German to attack freely, constantly dragging his opponent into confrontations when returning serve.

After failing to close out the second set tie-break, Zverev led 6/0 in the fourth set tie-break to seal victory – although he injected a final bit of drama with his first double fault of the match at 6/0.

Zverev ended the 2025 season ranked No. 3 in the PIF ATP rankings, but still called it an “incredibly unsatisfactory” year after winning just one title (Munich). The 28-year-old has lived up to his extremely high standards in a fortnight, particularly in his last two matches against the in-form Francisco Cerundolo Wada – both of whom had at least one win at the Lexus ATP against Zverev last year.

Zverev reaches his tenth Grand Slam semi-final and first since last year in Melbourne as he awaits Tuesday night’s decider between world number one Carlos Alcaraz and Australian hopeful Alex De Minaur.

Tiann has moved up to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, laying the groundwork for his first top-25 appearance since his breakthrough in the fourth round of the Australian Open a year ago.