Tennis: Zverev bites through – semi-final in Halle is the reward

Tennis Zverev bites through – semi-final in Halle the reward

In the semifinals at the tournament in Halle: Alexander Zverev. Photo

© Friso Gentsch/dpa

Alexander Zverev once again has to work hard in Halle. But in the end he fights through again – and is in the semifinals. Another German narrowly fails.

Alexander Zverev can continue to dream of his first title at the tennis tournament in Halle. The Olympic champion won his quarter-final at the Terra Wortmann Open against the Frenchman Arthur Fils after a hard fight with 6:7 (5:7), 6:3, 6:4.

Ten days before the start of the grass court classic in Wimbledon, Zverev converted his third match point after 2:30 hours. He will now face the Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals on Saturday (1:00 p.m.), who beat the American Marcos Giron 7:6 (7:5), 6:4.

“I love playing here. Tennis has given me so much. If I can then play in a full stadium in Germany, then I will be the happiest person in the world,” said Zverev after the hard-fought success.

Struff narrowly loses to Sinner

Jan-Lennard Struff, on the other hand, narrowly missed a surprise. The 34-year-old from Warstein lost his quarter-final against the Italian world number one Jannik Sinner despite a strong performance by 2:6, 7:6 (7:1), 6:7 (3:7). After initial difficulties in the first set, Struff improved and demanded everything from the industry leader. In the end, however, Sinner prevailed after 2:30 hours. The South Tyrolean will now face the winner of the duel between the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen and Christopher Eubanks from the USA in the semi-finals.

Zverev had a hard time from the start against the carefree Fils. The French Open finalist did not move quite as well as he did two days earlier against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Fils repeatedly put Zverev under pressure with powerful shots. The young French star also served well, so that Zverev was unable to earn a break chance in the entire first set. The decision was made in the tiebreak, where Zverev made a few minor lapses in concentration, so that the Frenchman won the first set after exactly one hour.

Zverev improves

Zverev briefly looked frustrated and somewhat perplexed at his team in the box, where his girlfriend Sophia Thomalla was once again sitting. But then the Hamburg native pulled himself together and took on the challenge of the young Frenchman. Zverev and Fils had trained together in the run-up to the tournament. According to Zverev’s brother Mischa, the Frenchman’s lack of practice on grass was still clearly noticeable. But in the week in Halle, number 37 went through a big learning process and continued to demand everything from Zverev.

Nevertheless, the German, seeded number two, managed to take control of the match. He made the long-awaited break to make it 4:2, and after 1:41 hours he leveled the set. The decision had to be made in the third set – and under a closed roof because of the rain forecast. Zverev seemed a little tired at the start of the third set, but he managed the decisive break to make it 4:3. A little later he made it to the semi-finals and was celebrated by the fans.

dpa

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