Reuters, MELBOURNEGerman seventh seed Alexander Zverev yesterday recovered from a slow start to beat former champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open to reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final. Zverev was once considered one of the leading Next Gen contenders to break the Grand Slam hegemony of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — who have shared the past 12 majors between them. He totaled 31 double-faults during the three defeats, but his serve has been immaculate in the year’s first Grand Slam. This is a Grand Slam. The opening set against Wawrinka was the first that Zverev lost in this year’s Australian Open, but he won the next three sets by breaking his 34-year-old opponent’s serve five times.
