Alexander Zverev outlasted Cameron Norrie in five sets to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for a third time and keep his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title alive.
Zverev utilized his powerful serve and backhand to rack up 54 winners en route to a hard-fought 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) victory over the No. 19 seed after four hours and five minutes.
The German is now 24-8 in Melbourne and improved his lead in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Norrie to 5-0.
‘’At the end of the day, this is a Grand Slam. Everybody is playing their best here,’’ Zverev said post-match.
‘’Cam was definitely playing amazing tennis and I’m just happy to be through.’’
Zverev relied heavily on his backhand to help him escape some of the trickiest moments, especially during the final set tie-break.
‘’Close your eyes, swing, and pray for the best,’’ he said when asked about his effective backhand wing.
"When it’s 6-6 in the fifth, nothing really helps anymore. Our whole family - my brother, father, mum - we all had great backhands and had absolutely no forehands.
‘’Nobody knew how to hold a racquet on the forehand side or on the serve.
‘’I’m lucky enough to be 6’6”, that helps. It comes from the family.’’
Next up for the No. 6 seed is a meeting with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who came through his fourth-round match in straight sets against Miomir Kecmanovic, on Wednesday.
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