By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 5, 2024
Sascha Zverev powered past Alex de Minaur to reach the last four in Paris.
Photo Source: Mark Peterson / Corleve
Paris – Alexander Zverev stretched his winning streak to 11 matches and reached his fourth consecutive Roland-Garros semifinal with a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Alex de Minaur on Wednesday night in Paris, the fourth-seeded German setting a semifinal rematch with Casper Ruud of Norway.
Ruud advanced to the final when world No.1 Novak Djokovic pulled out of the quarterfinals due to a knee injury. The Serbian legend had surgery on Wednesday in Paris, to repair a torn meniscus.
Zverev lost to two-time finalist Ruud in last year’s semifinals, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0.
“Great player,” Zverev said. “Two finals in a row, third semifinal in a row, that speaks for itself. He's one of the best players on this surface, for sure. I think I have to play my best tennis to have a chance.”
The 27-year-old had to battle to reach the semifinals, defeating Tallon Griekspoor and Holger Rune in five sets to improve his record in deciders at Roland-Garros to 10-1, but he was able to get past first-time Roland-Garros quarterfinalist De Minaur without dropping a set.
“I'm in another semifinal here, which I'm very pleased about,” Zverev said. “Of course I want to win one. I want to be in the finals. That's my main focus. But I think from the level today, it was a good match for me. Yeah, happy to be where I am.”
Zverev, this year’s Rome champion, improves to 15-3 on clay this season, and 8-2 overall against Australia’s De Minaur.
De Minaur battled valiantly in slow conditions, and even had a set point in the second set, but ultimately Zverev's power baseline game was too difficult to tame for the Aussie.
"I think Zverev loves slow conditions. I think it's no secret," De Minaur said. "His best surface is the clay. You put that plus a night match, obviously someone like myself it's a little bit harder to penetrate and hurt him out there. Still, I thought we came up with a good game plan. I was executing quite well."
Friday’s other semifinal will feature No.2-seeded Jannik Sinner against No.3-seeded Carlos Alcaraz.