Alexander Zverev progressed into the semi-final of the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
has labelled and “boring” after having his Australian Open request rejected.
Zverev had been hoping to feature in one of the evening slots but was forced to settle for the afternoon match instead.
The German revealed he tried to request the night match for his quarter-final clash against Tommy Paul but was quickly shut down by the authorities.
Speaking after his 6-7 (1-7), 6-7 (0-7), 6-2, 1-6 victory over the American, Zverev said: “I absolutely love playing night matches here. I understand Novak v Carlos is the highlight. I tried to request a night match but that was denied very quickly.”
His reward for making it through to a third semi-final is a meeting with either Djokovic or Alcaraz.
When asked if he intends to watch the pair’s last-eight clash later on that night, with tongue firmly in cheek, he replied: “Absolutely boring match-up, no reason [to the crowd] of staying here after just watching Zverev vs Paul.”
Zverev continued: “Two of the best players that probably touched a tennis racket. 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.
Alexander Zverev reached his third Australian Open semi-final with the win over Tommy Paul (Image: Getty)
“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 will have to up his game if he wishes to go one step further and make it to the final, with the world No.2 bemoaning his unforced errors during the post-match debrief.
He claimed: “I should have been down two sets to love. He played better than me, I was not playing great and I thought he was.
“I won the first set somehow, won the second set somehow. The fourth set was definitely the best I’ve played and I’m obviously extremely happy to be back in the semi-finals.”
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There had been plenty of on-court fireworks from Zverev, but not necessarily for the right reasons. The 27-year-old was given a code violation for an audible obscenity, having already fumed at the umpire after a member of the crowd shouted as he was attempting to return a ball close to the line.
Zverev believed the umpire had called the ball out, but it was a floating feather that irritated the tennis ace the most.
The white feather dropped just in front of him mid-rally, with the umpire calling let and Paul getting to retake his first serve.
Zverev, unhappy with the decision, cried: “Buddy, it’s a feather! There’s millions of them on the court.”
His search for a first-ever Grand Slam title continues later this week.