Sports
Alexander Zverev to meet Carlos Alcaraz in Aussie semifinals
Jan 25, 2026; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Alexander Zverev of Germany in action against Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the fourth round of the menís singles at the Australian Open at John Cain Arena in Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images Seeking his first Grand Slam championship, Alexander Zverev is through to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third year in a row.
The third-seeded German defeated No. 25 Learner Tien of the United States 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Tuesday in Melbourne.
Last year, Zverev lost in the Australian Open final to Italy’s Jannik Sinner in straight sets. In 2024, he fell to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.
Zverev, 28, has reached two other major finals. He was beaten by Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open title match and by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz for the 2024 French Open crown. Both matches went five sets.
Tien, 20, was competing in his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Zverev fired 24 aces, committed just one double fault and never lost his serve while facing just three break points. Tien wasn’t nearly as solid on his serve, offsetting his 11 aces with nine double faults and winning only 44% of his second-serve points.
“Learner from the baseline was playing unbelievable,” Zverev said. “I haven’t played anyone who plays that well from the baseline for a very long time.
“I don’t know what (coach) Michael Chang has done with him in the offseason, but the way he’s playing, it’s incredible. Without my (24) aces, I probably would have not won today. I’m obviously very happy with my serve but happy to be back in the semis.”
While Zverev had a small edge in winners (56-53), Tien committed 42 unforced errors to the German’s 22.
Zverev will face the top-seeded Alcaraz following the latter’s 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory against Australian hopeful and No. 6 seed Alex De Minaur.
Alcaraz has not dropped a set in Melbourne as he looks to complete a career Grand Slam at the age of 22. He is a two-time champion at each of the other three majors but has never reached the final in Australia.
“I’m just really happy with the level that I’m playing every match, since the first round,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve been increasing my level each match. I was talking with my team about being patient, because I want all the things right now. But they told me to be patient, that the level will come. Today I felt really comfortable, playing great tennis, which I’m really proud about.”
Alcaraz is trying to become just the sixth man in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam, joining Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Rod Laver.
He saved five of seven break points against De Minaur and finished with a 26-16 edge in winners while winning 82% (18 of 22) of his points at the net.
Alcaraz improved to 6-0 against De Minaur. His upcoming match with Zverev is a rematch of a 2024 quarterfinal, which the Spaniard lost in four sets.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 19 Vanderbilt earns first win at Auburn since 2016
Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Tanner (3) goes up for a layup as Auburn Tigers take on Vanderbilt Commodores at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. Tyler Tanner scored 25 points, making 12 of 13 free-throw attempts and helping lead visiting No. 19 Vanderbilt to an 84-76 victory over Auburn in Southeastern Conference play on Tuesday.
Jalen Washington added 22 points and Devin McGlockton scored 12 for Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4 SEC), which rebounded from a one-point home loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. Tyler Nickel had 10 points for the Commodores, who won at Auburn for the first time since Feb. 2016.
Tahaad Pettiford led Auburn (14-10, 5-6) with 21 points, followed by Keyshawn Hall’s 13 and KeShawn Murphy’s 12. Sebastian Williams-Adams chipped in 11 points and Kevin Overton had 10 for the Tigers, who have dropped three straight.
After holding an 11-point halftime lead, Vanderbilt extended the margin to 47-33 on Tanner’s three-point play with 18:19 remaining.
Elyjah Freeman’s layup cut Auburn’s deficit to 10, but Tanner’s jumper and Washington’s free throws extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 61-47 at the 9:09 mark. From there, Murphy’s layup capped a 6-0 run to bring the Tigers back within single digits.
After Vanderbilt grew the lead back to 14, Auburn answered with an 8-0 run, as Overton’s layup trimmed the deficit to 68-62 with 4:24 left.
Auburn narrowed the gap to four, but two free throws by Tanner sparked a 7-0 run to give Vanderbilt a 77-66 lead with 1:42 remaining.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 9-2 lead before Overton’s 3-pointer pulled Auburn within two with 13:44 left in the first half.
Auburn took its first lead when Hall made two free throws to put the Tigers ahead by a point at the 9:25 mark.
After Overton’s second 3-pointer knotted the score at 26, Tanner’s mid-range jumper and McGlockton’s layup gave the visitors a six-point lead with 4:30 remaining.
The Commodores grabbed their first double-digit lead, as McGlockton’s triple stamped a 7-0 lead to give Vanderbilt a 39-28 advantage. Pettiford and McGlockton traded 3-pointers in the final minute, giving the Commodores a 42-31 halftime lead.
McGlockton and Washington led all scorers with 12 points each in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 13 Purdue dominates boards, keeps No. 7 Nebraska reeling
Feb 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) gets a rebound against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Berke Buyuktuncel (9) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Braden Smith finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double as No. 13 Purdue overcame blowing two big leads to beat No. 7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) moved into a tie for third in the Big Ten by picking up their second road win over a Top 10 team. Purdue won at then-No. 9 Alabama in November.
Smith had 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists while Fletcher Loyer scored 18. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 14 rebounds, his basket with 5.2 seconds left giving Purdue the lead for good at 78-77. Cluff missed the chance for a three-point play, however, but after Nebraska forced a turnover, Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 rebounds as Purdue was plus-17 on the boards with 21 offensive rebounds. The visitors hit 13 3-pointers on 46 attempts (28.3%) and were just 11 of 20 from the line, missing several late in regulation and OT.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games after a school-record 24-game win streak dating to last season. The Cornhuskers got 18 points from Rienk Mast, who tied the game on a layup with 12.8 seconds in regulation but missed the and-one that would have given Nebraska the lead.
Purdue led 40-24 at halftime and increased the margin to 22 just over a minute into the second half. Nebraska went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine with 10:32 remaining, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Mast and Sam Hoiberg got the Cornhuskers within 54-49 with 7:14 to go.
A 10-0 Purdue run extended the edge to 14 with 2:45 left only to see Nebraska end regulation on a 15-1 spurt.
Purdue began the game on a 14-1 run, with Loyer and Smith each nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Nebraska missed its first five shots but then started hitting 3-pointers, getting within 21-14.
A 9-0 run put the Boilermakers up 36-19 with six minutes left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 15 Virginia tops ice-cold Florida State for fifth straight win
Feb 10, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) moves the ball away from Florida State Seminoles forward Alex Steen (25) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images Jacari White racked up 19 points and hit five 3-pointers to help No. 15 Virginia rally for a 61-58 victory over Florida State Tuesday evening in Tallahassee, Fla.
White scored 16 of his points in the second half, adding four rebounds and two assists to his game totals. All of those second-half points came in the final 14:45, more than doubling up the rest of his team combined over that span.
Thijs De Ridder added nine points and a team-high nine boards while Sam Lewis also scored nine for Virginia (21-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won five straight games.
Lajae Jones and Robert McCray V carried Florida State (11-13, 4-7), combining for 41 of their points in a losing effort that saw the Seminoles’ three-game win streak snapped.
McCray did plenty of scoring and a little bit of everything else with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. Jones finished with game highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Knotted at 45 with 11 minutes left, the Seminoles went on a 9-0 run capped off with a three-point play by McCray to take a 54-45 lead with 8:22 left.
From there, though, Florida State went ice cold and Virginia ended the game on a 16-4 run. The Cavaliers took their first lead since 15-12 on a dunk by White to make it 59-58 with 1:12 left.
The Seminoles missed their final 11 field-goal attempts, including a would-be game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds by McCray.
Florida State was held to 29% shooting (its second-lowest total of the season) and 18.2% from 3-point range (its worst mark this season).
The Cavaliers won on the road despite shooting not far above their own season low at 37.3% from the floor, including 10-of-33 (30.3%) from 3-point range.
Virginia jumped out to a 14-10 lead before encountering a 1-for-13 shooting stretch which saw the Seminoles pull ahead 26-19 with 6:53 left in the first half.
From there, though, the Cavaliers rallied with a half-ending 13-6 run to level the score at 32-all at the intermission.
Of the Seminoles’ first-half points, 27 of them came from Jones and McCray. Only four Florida State players scored over the opening 20 minutes.
Virginia, on the other hand, had no player score more than Lewis’ seven but got points from eight of its nine players who saw first-half action.
–Field Level Media
