Zverev overcomes De Minaur to complete Roland-Garros semi-finalists

Alexander Zverev, the No 4 seed, defeated Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 11 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to move into the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in Paris on Wednesday evening.

The German saw off a spirited challenge from De Minaur, who had his chances in the three-set match, holding a set point and at one stage leading 4-0 in the second set tiebreak. On three occasions, Zverev broke the Australian’s serve just to be broken back soon after.

Winning in straight sets will be a breath of fresh air for Zverev, who went the distance in his past two matches in Paris. With the victory, the 27-year-old moves into his fourth consecutive Roland-Garros semi-final, having never made it past this stage in three previous attempts.

He’ll play Casper Ruud for a spot in the final on Friday.

Zverev’s serve gets it done again

As expected, Zverev’s serve gave him a big advantage over De Minaur.

The German served at 69 percent and won 69 percent of points behind his first serve. This is compared to De Minaur’s numbers of 48 percent and 64 percent, giving Zverev a lot more free points.

The fourth seed was also clinical when he had opportunities to break, making the most of five of his six break points. De Minaur missed some chances, capitalising on just three of eight break points thanks to Zverev’s clutch serving.

Overall, it was a match up that featured regular long rallies, with both trying to grind down the other. Ultimately Zverev got the better of these exchanges, with De Minaur making 53 unforced errors to his 48.

The mindset of a four-time semi-finalist

Speaking after the match, Zverev shared some of what has given him such success here in Paris.

“Everybody keeps on asking me what I do for recovery,” Zverev said. “My answer is always very simple: you don’t recover after matches, you recover in the off-season. You do the work in the off-season, and tennis becomes easy.

“For me, I have a mindset that you have to work harder than everyone else to be the best player. I think the best players are already doing that, and for me, I like to work to my absolute limit. Then if I do that, then all of a sudden, playing five sets is not that difficult.

“I’ve been doing it over many, many years now, and I’m happy it’s paying off, still paying off. Happy to be in another semi-final… Hopefully I can win one.”

Zverev, ranked No 4, will play Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No 7 seed, next.

The German won against Spaniard Rafael Nadal (6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3), Belgian David Goffin (7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2), Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the No 26 seed (3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3)) and Dane Holger Rune, the No 13 seed (4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, De Minaur, ranked No 11, won against American Alex Michelsen (6-1, 6-0, 6-2), Spaniard Jaume Munar (7-5, 6-1, 6-4), German Jan-Lennard Struff (4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3) and Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 5 seed (4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3).

Paris (Grand Slam), other last eight results (Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 53.478.000, most recent results first):

• Novak Djokovic vs. Casper Ruud: Walkover (Djokovic withdrew injured)
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (9): 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Jannik Sinner (2) beat Grigor Dimitrov (10): 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3)