Alexander Zverev’s victory in the French Open quarter-finals is lackluster. Now a well-rested opponent awaits. In the mixed, a German is already reaching for the title
Alexander Zverev raised his winning fist to the crowd and took a deep breath. The German tennis player reached the semi-finals of the French Open for the fourth time in a row on his title mission in Paris.
Despite an average performance, the 27-year-old won his quarter-final against Australian outsider Alex De Minaur 6:4, 7:6 (7:5), 6:4 and is now just two wins away from his first Grand Slam tournament victory.
“I’m happy to be back in the semi-finals. I hope I can win one,” said the Hamburg native with a smile in the winner’s interview. In the round of the best four, the Olympic champion will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud on Friday, who benefited from the withdrawal of defending champion Novak Djokovic from the quarter-finals due to injury.
After two exhausting five-set matches against Holger Rune from Denmark and Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands, Zverev needed just under three hours on Court Philippe Chatrier this time before he converted his first match point.
In the professional era, only ten other players before him have reached the semi-finals at Stade Roland Garros four times in a row. Of the professionals still active, only 24-time Grand Slam tournament winner Novak Djokovic, Spanish clay court king Rafael Nadal, Great Britain’s tennis star Andy Murray and Austrian Dominic Thiem have achieved this feat.
Many mistakes with the forehand
Zverev came into the match as the clear favorite, having won seven of their nine previous duels – including the only one so far on clay two years ago in Rome. But: “The big question for me is: How fit is Sascha Zverev?” said tennis icon Boris Becker on Eurosport in view of the recent exertions for the German number 1.
Zverev seemed at least a little unfocused in some phases of the match. Even after winning the first set, the world number four repeatedly made mistakes, especially with his forehand, which the nimble defensive artist from Australia cleverly provoked.
A warning was issued at 5:6 and 40:40 in the second set because Zverev had taken too much time on his serve. However, the Hamburg native overcame this critical phase as well as a 0:4 deficit in the tie-break. In the end, he extended his impressive tiebreak record in Paris to 23:2. He then put a finger to his ear and asked the crowd for even more support.
In the third set, Zverev served for the match at 5:3, but conceded a break. He then clinched the match in the following return game
Surprises in the women’s singles
In the women’s singles, two outsiders surprisingly completed the semi-final field. First, the Italian Jasmine Paolini celebrated the biggest success of her career with a 6:2, 4:6, 6:4 win over former Wimbledon winner Yelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan. A little later, 17-year-old Mirra Andreyeva caused an even bigger surprise.
The young Russian defeated the physically weakened world number two Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus 6:7 (5:7), 6:4, 6:4, making her the youngest semi-finalist at a Grand Slam tournament on clay since Martina Hingis from Switzerland 27 years ago. Andreyeva will play Paolini today in the underdog semi-final. In the second semi-final, Polish world number one Iga Swiatek and US star Coco Gauff will face each other
A German in the final
A German player goes for the title in the mixed competition. Laura Siegemund won the semi-final alongside Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin against Ulrikke Eikeri from Norway and Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina in a match tie-break 10:7. Desirae Krawczyk from the USA and Neal Skupski from Great Britain await in the final. “A Grand Slam final – everyone dreams of that, regardless of the competition. I think it’s mega to play on a stage like this,” said the 36-year-old Siegemund.
