Title favourite Alexander Zverev is one win away from an elusive maiden Grand Slam title after coming through his "toughest challenge so far" to beat Jakub Mensik in the French Open semi-finals.
The second seed is through to his fourth major final and second at Roland Garros, having lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets in 2024.
Taken to a fourth set for only the second time in the tournament, Zverev kept his composure to win 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 against first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist and 26th seed Mensik.
Zverev, who has been the front-runner to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires since world number one Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic suffered shock exits in the first week, will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli in Sunday's final.
Italian Cobolli advanced to his first Grand Slam final via a walkover after his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi, the world number 104, withdrew minutes before their semi-final with a virus.
Should Zverev win, the 29-year-old will be the seventh oldest first-time Grand Slam men's singles champion in the Open era and the first German man to win a major since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open.
However, his past six defeats have all come against Italian players, including a straight-set loss to Cobolli in the Munich Open semi-finals in April.
While Zverev has had no shortage of success, with 24 ATP titles and an Olympic gold medal to his name, he has so often been the nearly man on the Grand Slam stage, heading into this match with seven defeats from 10 major semi-finals.
On his three appearances in the finals, he has thrown away a two-sets-to-love lead against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open, lost to Alcaraz in Paris after leading two sets to one, and gone down in straight sets to Sinner in Melbourne in last year.
With his path to the title opening up, all eyes have been on him during the second week - but so far, the German has worn the pressure well.
"He [Mensik] beat so many unbelievable players and I knew it was going to be the toughest challenge I had so far. I managed, I won, and I am happy," Zverev said.
"He started playing amazing in the third set. He stepped up to another level. This is a Grand Slam. Opponents are going to play better, and you have to deal with it – and I did."
Credit: BBC
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!
Leave a Comment