Zverev a man on a mission: The world number three title dreams remain afloat as he blasts past Muller

Alexander Zverev continues to plough through the opening rounds of the Australian Open, with Alexandre Muller proving to be stiff competition but not anything that the German has faced before, coming out on top 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Melbourne Park has been a venue that the two-time ATP Finals champion has enjoyed these previous couple of years. He reached the semi-finals in 2024 after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in a last-eight thriller before squandering a two-set lead against Daniil Medvedev to reach the final. He then managed to make it to a third major final but proved no match for the defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Only silverware will be good enough for Zverev, showing off his utmost motivation to finally clinch a Grand Slam title after years of underperforming and misery.

His quest to get this ever-growing chip off his shoulder could be complete in just over a week, but to do that, he needs to get past the early stages. He was pushed against Muller, but was able to exact revenge after losing their prior meeting on home soil last year.

Zverev commenced his first round tie against Gabriel Diallo with a slow start, losing the firts set. He was under the cosh from the early stages after he was forced to defend two break points from the fast starting Muller. He recovered well before warming into the match.

After spurning a break point of his own as he fell 3-2 down, he found that spark of quality, which is why he is ranked third in the world. An easy hold was followed by a well-earned break. He moved one away from confirming the first set, and instead of waiting to serve it out, the impatient Zverev once again broke the Frenchman's serve to take the first step towards victory.

This would eventually be nullified with a positive response from Muller. However, this was not expected at the start of set two, with Zverev making it seven games on the spin, really finding his mojo as he looked to run away with the contest. His fortunes were soon to be overturned as they crashed down dramatically. After taking a 3-0 lead, Muller found a purple patch and won five games in a row. Zverev ended the rot and even created a break opportunity when Muller was serving for the set, but it was too late to prevent his opponent from tying affairs.

Three holds were followed by three consecutive breaks in the third set. Zverev was on the right end of this, coming out from a manic period as he broke back to go 4-2 in front. A rain delay on the John Cain Arena was not going to get in the way of the determined German, who dropped just two points on serve for the rest of the set to again put himself in command of this tennis match.

He backed this up with an instant break, leaving Muller with a lot of work to do if he wanted to make it to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. It could, and possibly should have been a double break and 4-1 lead Zverev took, but he could not convert from a 15-40 lead. He would then fail to take two match points on Muller's serve before holding to love to complete a very solid victory. Up next is Cameron Norrie, with Zverev winning his last six meetings against the Brit, who just came past Emilio Nava in a thriller.