Tennis professional Alexander Zverev has reached the final of the French Open in Paris for the first time. The Olympic champion won comfortably against Norwegian Casper Ruud on Friday evening (07.06.24) with 2:6, 6:2, 6:4, 6:2 and will face Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in the second Grand Slam final of his career.
Zverev is now just one win away from his long-awaited first Grand Slam title. At the French Open, he is the second German player after Michael Stich 28 years ago to fight for the Coupe des Mousquetaires in the final duel.
“I’m just very happy. So many good and bad things have happened to me here, now I’m finally in the final. I’ll give it my all on Sunday,” said Zverev.
Zverev only dominates from the second set
Ruud, who had benefited from defending champion Novak Djokovic’s injury-related withdrawal in the quarterfinals, initially appeared more rested and focused. Zverev lost his first service game to zero and initially found no way to counter his opponent’s varied game.
From the second set onwards, however, Zverev found his rhythm, his shots became more powerful and his first serve was also more consistent. Ruud came under increasing pressure and made mistakes. The world number seven also seemed physically ill, repeatedly hunching over after the rallies.
Zverev used his first match point after 2 hours and 35 minutes. Before the match, the trial against him in Berlin for allegations of bodily harm ended without a verdict.
Alcaraz wins against Sinner after more than four hours
Previously, Spain’s tennis star Carlos Alcaraz had won the entertaining five-set duel between the young stars and Jannik Sinner and also reached the final for the first time.
The 21-year-old won 2:6, 6:3, 3:6, 6:4, 6:3 against the physically weakened Italian (22) and is now just one win away from his third Grand Slam title. After 4 hours and 9 minutes, Alcaraz converted his third match point.
“You have to enjoy suffering,” said Alcaraz, who spoke of one of the toughest matches of his career: “I hope I can play against Jannik like this more often. I’m just happy about everything I achieved today.”
With his prestigious victory against the future number 1 in the world rankings, Alcaraz also set an age record: he is the youngest player in the professional era to have reached a Grand Slam final on all three surfaces: clay, grass and hard court. He has won his previous finals at the 2022 US Open and 2023 Wimbledon.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates during the semifinal against Jannik Sinner.
Weak serve from Sinner
After just 16 minutes, Sinner was ahead 4-0 with two breaks, and the crowd reacted with encouraging applause for the initially perplexed Spaniard. After another weak start in the second set, Alcaraz found his rhythm and suddenly dominated the long rallies in particular.
Sinner, who had been out for weeks with a hip injury before the start of the tournament, was weak on his first serve, made many mistakes and was no longer moving as well.
Sinner with cramps
But Sinner, who took over the lead in the world rankings from the injured Novak Djokovic on Monday, pulled himself together again and won the third set. However, he had to be treated by a physiotherapist for cramps in his forearm and leg. Physically weakened, he could no longer stop the dynamic Alcaraz.
Given the age of the two opponents, the duel between Sinner and Alcaraz was the youngest Grand Slam semifinal since 2008, when Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray faced each other in the semifinals of the US Open.
2024-06-07 16:53:50
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