MADRID, 5 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The German tennis player Alexander Zverev beat the Australian Alex de Miñaur 6-4, 7-6(5) and 6-4 this Wednesday and with this he qualified for the semifinals of the Roland Garros tournament, the second ‘Grand Slam’ of the season and where he will now face the Norwegian Casper Ruud.
The night shift on the Philippe Chatrier Court offered a remarkable duel, with two very inspired players on clay and who from the beginning tested each other through topspin backhands. The first two break balls were seen in the second game, with Zverev serving.
The German saved that 30-40 and also immediately broke his opponent’s serve, but De Minaur completed the counterbreak thanks to an impressive lob from the back of the court. Quality shots on both sides of the net, with balance prevailing until the seventh game.
Then Zverev signed another break, after a strong cross backhand, and took advantage of his lead on the scoreboard (4-3) to securely close the first set. That did not intimidate the Australian, as the beginning of the next set saw two blank games won by each server.
In the two subsequent service turns there were no scares either, until in the fifth game the German enjoyed a succulent 30-40; He did not waste it and took the lead again, although it did not last long. De Minaur got serious, made another ‘counterbreak’ and pressed his opponent with a high pace.
‘Sascha’ held it off for a while with excellent serves, although in the twelfth game he suffered greatly to maintain it and force sudden death. In fact, De Minaur even had a set point after another backhand lob; He did not have immediate continuity, but it was a warning of the high level that the German was going to find himself in front of later.
Not in vain, the ‘Aussie’ took a 0-4 lead in the tie-break, his first in this edition of Roland Garros. Supported again on the serve and his physical display, Zverev came back (5-5) and then gave everything in an exchange of 39 blows, which fell in his favor as if it were a prelude to the 7-5 that he awarded him. the set.
Looking ahead to the third, the initial game once again showed equality at the same time as talent. And the trend continued until in the sixth game there was a loophole through which ‘Sascha’ went 15-40, signing ‘ipso facto’ the opportunity to break and placing himself with a 5-2 that seemed like the sentence.
However, De Minaur had not settled his battle. He almost broke in the seventh game, scored a blank in the eighth and to top it all off, he broke the German’s serve in the ninth. But the superb physicality of his opponent prevailed again to close the victory in the tenth game, after two hours and 59 minutes of very intense clash.
2024-06-05 21:41:31
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