By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Alexander Zverev saved set point in the tiebreaker fending off 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a tremendous Roland Garros quarterfinal.
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Stepping toward the spinning ball, Alexander Zverev zapped a backhand return closing a quality clash with furious fist pumps.
Clad in a black sleeveless t-shirt, Zverev played disarming drives when it mattered most.
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Zverev saved set point in the fourth set tiebreaker fending off 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) in a tremendous three hour, 18-minute fight that sends the German into his second straight Roland Garros semifinal.
The 25-year-old German's reward for his resilience is a semifinal showdown vs. either world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or Grand Slam king Rafael Nadal.
"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."
The third-seeded Zverev played major streak buster today snapping Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak—and his own ignominious history against Top 10 opponents in majors. This was a monumental match for Zverev, who was 0-11 lifetime vs. Top 10 opponents in Grand Slam play before battling by Alcaraz in a gripping quarterfinal climaxing with a dramatic tiebreaker.
“I think Carlos is one of the best players in the world right now," Zverev told the media in Paris. "It seems quite impossible to beat him. But I knew that I had to play my absolute best from the first point on.
"I think letting him go ahead in the match, letting him get the confidence was going to be a very difficult thing for me to come back from. In the end I'm happy that I won in four sets and didn't have to go to a fifth set."
The Olympic gold-medal champion failed to serve it out at 5-4, saved set point at 5-6 in the tiebreaker and made a tremendous reflex volley at net to keep hope alive and set up that backhand bold that ended it.
It’s been a tough year for Zverev, who was booted from Acapulco after attacking the umpire’s chair with his racquet, incurring a $65,000 fine and one-year probationary period for that violent outburst. Zverev’s father, Alexander Zverev, Sr., was ill and off the Tour for a while prompting the German to hire two-time former French Open champion Sergi Bruguera as traveling coach.
A little more than three weeks ago, Alcaraz annihilated Zverev 6-3, 6-1 capturing his maiden Mutua Madrid Open championship. It was Alcaraz’s seventh straight Top 10 win.
The teenager made history as the first man since David Nalbandian at the 2007 Madrid to defeat three of the world's Top four players at a Masters 1000 and entered today’s rematch as a favorite in the mind’s of many.
Zverev had other ideas.
Playing with precision in baseline rallies, Zverev protected his serve and made the man playing his second career Slam quarterfinal work for everything he got.
Alcaraz hit seven more winners (46 to 39), but Zverev played consistently cleaner committing 39 unforced errors compared to 56 for the Spanish teenager.
While Alcaraz certainly pulled off his share of dazzling drop shot winners, the 6’6” Zverev read that shot well at crunch time, frequently ran it down and fired some winners.
Credit Alcaraz for emptying out his arsenal and throwing everything at his opponent, but except for his failure to serve out the match, Zverev hardly flinched at the fire coming his way.
B When Alcaraz tried to serve-and-volley on a second serve, Zverev hammered a return down the line handcuffing the Spaniard to draw first-break blood in the fifth game.
Zverev confirmed the break at 15 for 4-2.
The world No. 3 made that break stand. Zverev zapped a backhand winner down the line building a one-set lead after 44 minutes. Zverev dictated with a dominant first serve winning 22 of 28 first-serve points in the first set.
Victimized by Alcaraz’s audacious drop shots in the Madrid final and early in today’s rematch, Zverev read that shot ran it down and poked a volley for break point. Alcaraz again tried the surprise serve-and-volley, but Zverev banged a low pass the teenager could not handle cracking out the break and a 4-3 second-set lead.
The 2020 US Open finalist was exacting the upper handed in side-to-side rallies and imposing his ferocious first serve. Zverev clubbed a 131 mph serve out wide, streaked forward and flashed a forehand drive volley winner capping a love hold to consolidate for 5-3.
Serving for a two-set lead, Zverev dug out of a love-30 hole with successive sharp volleys. Running down another drop shot, Zverev angled off a backhand volley for set point. Alcaraz saved it with a short forehand down the line.
On his second set point, Zverev double faulted. Stepping up to the line with a third set point, Zverev tugged at the bottom of his shirt, glanced at the service box and blasted his fifth ace down the T snatching an imposing two-set lead after 90 minutes of play.
Alcaraz tried moving well behind the baseline near the back wall to return but still struggled to make inroads on return. Zverev saved all three break points he faced through the first two sets.
Give an audacious Alcaraz credit in that he didn’t back off the dropper even when burned by its use. Serving at 4-all, Alcaraz feathered a forehand dropped to deny break point and pumped both fists withstanding the pressure to hold for 5-4.
The dropper helped Alcaraz crack out the break in the ensuing game. Dragging the big man forward with a drop shot, Alcaraz rapped a forehand pass for set point. Another daring drop shots ended the third set as Alcaraz scored his first break of the day to force a fourth set.
Both men held firm until the ninth game. Alcaraz missed a forehand to face double break point.
On the second break point, Alcaraz blinked spinning his third double fault into net. Zverev scored his third break for a 5-4 fourth-set lead.
The Madrid champion wasn’t finished. Alcaraz flashed a forehand strike down the line for triple break point. On his second break point, Alcaraz buried a backhand into the corner breaking right back to even after 10 games.
The 2021 semifinalist opened the tiebreaker with a mini break before Alcaraz got it back. Netting a backhand volley on the serve-and-volley, Alcaraz ceded the mini break and a 3-2 lead. Then the Spaniard slammed a forehand down the line for 3-all.
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The pair traded backhand bolts and were level again at 4-all. Two droppers in a row put Alcaraz up 5-4 and sent French fans into a frenzy. Zverev zapped a running backhand down the line off a drop shot for 5-5. Alcaraz raised the stakes raking a backhand down the line for set point at 6-5.
The crowd was chanting “Carlos! Carlos!” eager to erupt for a fifth. Alcaraz put a backhand into the top of the tape a set point slipped.
Drawing the German in with a dropper, Alcaraz tried the body blow pass but Zverev reflex back a volley that dripped over for match point at 7-6. This time, Zverev caught the tape with a backhand.
Resetting quickly, Zverev dabbed a dropper for a second match point.
Reading the wide second serve, Zverev zapped a backhand return winner down the line and unleashed exuberant emotion.
"I’m in the semifinals of a major and I beat probably the best clay-court player we had this season," Zverev said. "So I think it showed I can play okay as well.
"I think people sometimes forget that. I’ve been around for quite a while now. I’m just happy to be playing the world No. 1 or the king of clay next."