On the way to his 301st victory on the APT Tour, Zverev gave an early break to the 2-1 lead in the first set. In the second round Auger-Aliassime came into play better and took the serve from the German to make the decisive 5: 3. The 21-year-old Canadian, currently number twelve in the ATP ranking, also took the momentum into the third set. The preliminary decision was made in the sixth game, which lasted around 16 minutes, in which Zverev used his sixth break chance and used his second match ball after 2:05 hours.
“I’m happy to be in the semi-finals. It was a difficult match that I made a little difficult for myself. Any spectator here in the town hall would bring the volley that I missed and then received a break into the field. You can also see that professionals are only human, ”said Zverev after the game in the ORF interview. “At the beginning of the third sentence I shit a little in my pants. So I’m glad that I’m through now. ”Zverev has left the court as the winner 23 times in the last 25 games.
Young star Alcaraz in the Vienna semi-finals
The young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz has made it to the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. He was able to prevail against the Italian Matteo Berrettini with 6: 1 6: 7 (2/7) 7: 6 (7/5). Alexander Zverev from Germany is waiting for him in the semifinals.
Alcaraz plays against Berrettini
For Alcaraz it is the first semifinals on the tour at ATP 500 level. The teenager had won his first title this year in Umag, and subsequently defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fifth set of the third US Open round. The Spaniard then reached the quarter-finals and became the youngest quarter-finalist in Flushing Meadows of the Open Era and the youngest in one of the four major tournaments since Michael Chang in 1990 at the French Open.
The match against Berrettini was once again high-class, characterized by great baseline duels, and another show of the talent and tremendous power of Alcaraz. The Spaniard, looked after by the ex-world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, kept his nerve even in the tight finish.
In the third set he gave up a 4-1 lead and had to go into the tie-break against the world number seven. In this, the youngster, who was also mentally unusually strong, prevailed and then rejoiced over his second greatest success after that of Tsitsipas in New York.
“One of my best performances ever”
“The match was incredible. It was one of my best performances ever, ”said Alcaraz. For him, his mental performance was the key to victory. “The mental part has the most important part in tennis. I think it’s the key to playing great tennis from start to finish. It was also my key today to win this match. “
Against his next opponent he is again an outsider, because Olympic champion Zverev is the highest seeded player after the top seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and Berrettini’s out – and also in strong form. Before the next duel with Alcaraz, which he shot 6: 3 6: 1 in the first Acapulco round this year, Zverev has been warned.
“He has improved a lot since then. He has reached the quarterfinals of the US Open and is playing the best tennis of his life. He will still improve a lot. When I was so young, it felt like a very, very long time ago, there is no pressure, ”said the 24-year-old German. And you can see that in Alcaraz. “I said he would be in the top ten in 2023 – maybe it will be even faster.”
ATP 500 tournament in Vienna
(Austria, EUR 1.974 million, hard court / hall)
