PARIS: Second seed Alexander Zverev kept his French Open aspirations alive with a dominant 7-6 (3) 6-1 6-3 victory over teen prodigy Rafael Jodar to reach the Roland Garros semifinals for the fifth time in six years.
A finalist here last year, Zverev was given a tough time by the Spanish 19-year-old in the opening set on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the 29-year-old was unfazed as he rallied from 2-5 down to secure a victory which took two hours and 17 minutes.
"It was tough," he admitted after the match. "He was in rhythm, perfect rhythm, in the first set. And I wasn't. I was very short and very defensive. Conditions under the roof are very different. The string tension is different, and the ground is different.
"The ball wasn't jumping as high, and really heavy topspin wasn't good here, and I had to be a little bit flatter."
The German conceded that Jodar was all over him in the opening set of the clash. "He was playing great, and he was better at the beginning of the first set, but I was able to come back, and he played a bit nervously when he was serving for the set, and I took my chances then, and it was a good match from there."
Despite reaching the quarter-finals of this event, leading the way with 19 clay court wins this season, the 19-year-old looked set to snatch the opening set as he broke serve for a 5-2 lead, but Zverev's class told, with the German winning five of the next six games to force a tie break. Zverev then raced to 3-3 before rattling off four straight points to claim the set.
From there, Zverev dominated. Winning 71% of points behind his first serve and hitting a host of forehands, as he strung seven consecutive games together from 1-1 in the second set to establish a two-set and break advantage.
That dominance was underlined by his seven straight games between the second and third sets. He has now lost just one set in five here this year and, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic out of the draw, Zverev must consider himself the favourite for a first Grand Slam.
"I want to continue," he said. "I want to be in the tournament, I want to win the matches that I haven't been (winning). My goal.
"I feel like today was a very tough test against a very good player, and I did manage, I did win it. Of course, I'm happy to be in the semi-finals, but only for now. That's it."
Matteo Arnaldi conjured up yet another five-set epic at French Open as he staged a remarkable comeback to outlast Fancis Tiafoe to book his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.
The 25-year-old hauled No.19 seed American the distance in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The gripping 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 clash spanned five hours and 26 minutes.
The Italian has now spent an astonishing 17 hours and 42 minutes to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals, one hour and 58 minutes longer than any other player has taken to make the quarter-finals at any Grand Slam tournament since the ATP Tour began recording match times in 1991. Agencies
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