In a rush to the premiere victory: Even the “crazy” does not stop Zverev


In a rush to the maiden victory
Even the “crazy” does not stop Zverev

Alexander Zverev is in the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time in his career. Germany’s best tennis player walks surprisingly quickly to his greatest success in Paris. His opponent, against whom Zverev had warned, has no chance whatsoever.

The dream of the first Grand Slam title lives on for Alexander Zverev. Even without shining, Germany’s best tennis player reached the semi-finals at the French Open for the first time in his career. Zverev won against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6: 4, 6: 1, 6: 1 despite a mixed performance and is thus in the semifinals for the third time in a Grand Slam tournament. He had previously managed to do this last year at the Australian Open and the US Open, where he lost in five sets in a dramatic final against Austrian Dominic Thiem in September.

In the fight for a place in the final, Zverev in Paris will now meet the winner of the top duel between the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev from Russia, who faced each other in the night session on Tuesday evening. Zverev wanted to watch the game of the two arch rivals with relish on television. “I’m there with popcorn,” said Zverev. First, however, there are two days off for the sixth in the world rankings.

“Hopefully there can be more”

However, the premiere victory did not cause euphoria: “I have no reason to laugh or show emotions,” said Zverev at Eurosport. “I’m in the semi-finals, that’s all. I hope I have two more matches to go. I’m here to play for the tournament victory.” Tennis legend Boris Becker did not want to dwell long with the game. “The main thing is,” said Becker as a TV expert at Eurosport.

Unlike Nishikori in the round of 16, Zverev initially had a hard time against Davidovich Fokina. Because the two women’s matches had previously lasted over three sets, the encounter on the Philippe Chatrier court had started two hours late. Perhaps it was also because the 24-year-old couldn’t find a rhythm at all and gave up his service three times in the first movement. A balance sheet with which a set profit is actually impossible.

“He’s crazy,” said Zverev about the formally strong Spaniard, with whom he is good friends. “He can do magic, he can do things that others can’t. He is unpredictable.” And of course: “He will be hard to beat and has played some really good matches here. I have to put everything into it. He’s probably playing the tournament of his life at the moment.” But because in the less than two hours of this quarter-finals something could only be guessed at in a very few moments, Zverev stayed in the game and even got the first set 6: 4.

In the end it happens very quickly

Zverev himself didn’t know exactly how he succeeded. When he walked to his chair after winning the sentence, he shook his head. “But you can’t play every set well in a Grand Slam tournament. The important thing was that I won it,” he said after the game. With the win of the first round in the back, things went much better at Zverev. The native of Hamburg moved better now, and his serve didn’t cause so many problems anymore.

Davidovich Fokina, on the other hand, seemed overwhelmed with the pressure in his first Grand Slam quarter-finals. The 22-year-old now gave Zverev many points and had already made 30 avoidable mistakes by the end of the second set. Zverev now had everything under control and also made two quick breaks in the third set. He could not be stopped with that and made the progress perfect after only 1:36 hours.

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