Alexander Zverev becomes seventh German male tennis player to reach grand slam semifinal in Open era

Alexander Zverev of Hamburg, Germany became the seventh German male tennis player in the Open Era to reach the semifinals of a grand slam tournament on Wednesday. Zverev, the seventh seed, defeated 15th ranked Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Australian Open from Melbourne. This is Zverev’s first final four appearance at a major.

Zverev will now play fifth ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria in one of two semifinals. Thiem upset the first ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 on Wednesday. Novak Djokovic of Serbia will face Roger Federer of Switzerland in the other semifinal.

In Zverev’s win over Wawrinka, the German bounced back nicely after being steamrolled by the three-time major champion in the opening set. Zverev had 13 aces compared to Wawrinka’s four in the match and only had 28 unforced errors compared to Wawrinka’s 39.

The other six Germans to reach the semifinals in the Open Era are Boris Becker of Leimen, Michael Stich of Pinneberg, Tommy Haas of Hamburg, Rainer Schuttler of Korbach, Nicolas Kiefer of Holzminden and Karl Meiler of Erlangen. Of the seven Germans to reach the semifinals, only Becker and Stich are major champions.

Becker reached the semifinals of a major 18 times. He won Wimbledon in 1985, 1986 and 1989. He also won the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996 and the US Open in 1989. Becker lost a grand slam final at Wimbledon four times (1988, 1990, 1991 and 1995). He also reached as far as the semifinals eight times. Becker lost in the final four at the 1987, 1989 and 1991 French Open, 1993 and 1994 Wimbledon and 1986, 1990 and 1995 U.S. Open.

Stich won Wimbledon in 1991. He also reached the final of the U.S. Open in 1994 and the French Open in 1996. Three times Stich reached as far as the semifinals. He lost in the final four at the 1991 French Open, 1993 Australian Open and 1997 Wimbledon.

Haas reached four semifinals of majors in his career. That took place at the 1999, 2002 and 2007 Australian Open and 2009 Wimbledon.

Schuttler reached the 2003 Australian Open final where he lost to Andre Agassi of the United States 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. He also made the semi-final at Wimbledon in 2008.

Kiefer made the 2006 Australian Open semifinal. There he lost to Roger Federer of Switzerland, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2. Meiler reached the 1973 Australian Open semifinal. There he lost to Onny Parun of New Zealand 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.