World No. 3 and top contender for the Australian open 2022, Alexander Zverev lost in straight sets by Denis Shapovalov from Canada. It remains the biggest upset in the men’s draw for now. In a high-intensity match, the German failed to find his rhythm and ended up on the losing side in the Margaret Court Arena.

Shapovalov knocked out the No. 3 seed 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 to make it to his first quarterfinals here at Melbourne Park. He will meet 20-time Grand Slam-winning champion, Rafael Nadal, in his next match for a spot in the final four. Nadal, who overcame an extremely trying tie-break in the first set against Adrian Mannarino, will also look to add to his impressive collection of titles. And become the first man to make it to 21 Grand Slams.

Boris Becker is ‘Very Disappointed with Alexander Zverev

Former tennis star Boris Becker observed that “Sascha never found his game, he didn’t develop dynamism or aggression.” He told Eurosports that “right from the start you had the feeling that Shapovalov was always a step ahead. The Canadian was livelier. I haven’t seen Zverev that passive for a very long time.”

After a successful tennis career, Becker is active in the tennis circuit with coaching assignments and as a commentator. He said that it was okay to not play well sometimes, but making a genuine effort and playing with your soul is what counts.

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Zverev had a successful season before coming into this Australian Open. He won the gold medal at the Olympic Games (in Tokyo) and the 2021 ATP Finals. However, today, he fired just three aces, committed eight double faults, waited too long on the baseline, and played with the hope that his opponent would make a mistake. We also saw him violently smashing his racquet, being extremely agitated and overall out of form.

WATCH: Alexander Zverev Destroys His Racket After a Major Meltdown Against Denis Shapovalov at Australian Open 2022

“To be honest, there is not much I can say to take away that was positive from today… Today was just awful from my side,” he told the press in the post-match conference.

Shapovalov did not expect to finish in three

The 14th seed said it is always nice to win a match in straight sets, but he was mentally prepared for a long battle in his fourth-round match.

“It’s probably what I least expected, to finish in three, so I’m very happy with my performance and where my game is at,” he said.

When asked about how he was feeling about the match and on the court, he noted, “Off the ground, I was playing really well feeling my shots of both wings. I played pretty smartly today, and I felt things were going my way early on, plus a little bit of momentum in the second set. I did well do not come back and I kind of rolled with it afterward.”

Shapovalov recently won an exhibition match against Rafael Nadal at the Mubadala World Tennis Tournament. “It’s always an honor to go up against a guy like Rafa… It’s going to be a tough one, and I’m definitely going to enjoy it,” he said when asked about playing the quarterfinals against Nadal.

WATCH THIS STORY: 5 Rafael Nadal shots that made the commentators go wild at the Australian Open 2022