"Absolutely boring match-up": Alexander Zverev gives cheeky response about Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic quarterfinal clash at Australian Open

Germany’s Alexander Zverev has joked about a ‘boring match-up’ between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open. The 27-year-old became the first player to book his place in the semifinal of the first Grand Slam of the year after beating America’s Tommy Paul in the last-eight clash with a score of 7-6, 7-0, 2-6, 6-1.

Talking before the contest, Zverev was asked about what the crowd should expect from the second quarterfinal of the day between two former world number ones, Djokovic and Alcaraz. In response to that, the reigning world number two gave a cheeky response. "Absolutely boring match-up, no reason [to the crowd] of staying here after just watching Zverev vs Paul,” he said.

Zverev further went on to give a more serious response by stating that the crowd should stay to watch two of the best players in the world going head to head to cement a spot in the last four of the first Grand Slam of the year. "Two of the best players that probably touched a tennis racket,” he siad. “Novak is the greatest of all time right now. Carlos is going to be one of them when he hangs it up. So it's a clash of generations. They have played Grand Slam finals before, they have played Olympic finals. So it's going to be a privilege to witness it here in Australia so please guys enjoy it."

Zverev, meanwhile, cemented his spot for the third time in the semifinal appearance of the Australian Open in his career and the second time in two years. Last year, his journey ended as he lost a five-set thriller to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev with a score of 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3. In 2020, Zverev lost to Dominic Thiem in the last-four clash with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.