German young gun Alexander Zverev stormed into his first Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday, rallying from a set down to shatter the dreams of veteran Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open.
The seventh seed was thumped in the first set but recovered to grind down the 2014 champion 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in hot sun on Rod Laver Arena.
He will face either world number one Rafael Nadal or Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the last four, with a final beckoning against Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.
"It feels awesome," said Zverev who has been donating $10,000 for each win at Melbourne Park to Australian bushfire relief, and will even hand over the Aus$4.12 million ($2.78 million) winner's cheque if he clinches the title.
"I've done well at other tournaments and in other matches but could never break that barrier in Grand Slams. You can't imagine what this means to me.
"It hope it will be the first of many."
- Crunching groundstrokes -
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