By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Olympic gold-medal champion Alexander Zverev leads the ATP Tour in gold chains worn on court.
The 25-year-old Zverev says it's time he takes home Grand Slam silverware.
More: Zverev Denies Alcaraz for Second Straight Roland Garros Semifinal
Zverev fought off 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a tremendous three hour, 18-minute fight advancing to his second straight Roland Garros semifinal.
It was Zverev's first career Top 10 win in a Grand Slam snapping an 0-11 drought.
The third-seeded German's reward is a semifinal showdown with either Grand Slam king Rafael Nadal or world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The 2020 US Open champion said he's coming of age to master a maiden major.
"At the end of the day, I said a lot of times, I'm not 20 or 21 years old anymore; I'm 25," Zverev told the media in Paris. "I am at the stage where I want to win, I'm at the stage where I'm supposed to win, as well.
"We still have the best players in the world playing with Novak, Rafa, and Roger is coming back. I'm not sure at the age of 41 if he is going to win Grand Slams again but obviously you have to mention him. Then you have the new generation. But I think our generation is very strong as well. We have Tsitsipas, Medvedev who is a US Open champion. I mean, me, I won big events like the Olympics, as well."
Though Zverev beat Djokovic in Tokyo en route to the Olympic gold medal last July, he concedes conquering an iconic Big 3 champion in the best-of-five Grand Slam format is a completely different type of challenge.
Though Zverev owns a solid 17-10 five-set record, Djokovic is 36-10 in five-setters and Nadal is 25-13 going the distance, including his epic comeback from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final in January.
"There is a reason why they are the best in the world at Grand Slams. One has 21; the other one has 20," Zverev said. "They are top of the game for the past 15, 20 years, and there is a big reason for that.
"At the end, yes, I have not beaten them in majors, but I feel like I was very close. I feel like I have had very difficult and tough matches against them. But there is a big difference between having a tough match and beating them. Still a major difference. So hopefully I can manage and take this win today and put it on the court on Friday."
Photo credit: Getty