AIn the end, Alexander Zverev didn’t stop screaming at all. Once, twice, a short break, then it started all over again. After Germany’s best tennis pro had refrained from any emotional outburst for more than three hours, even after spectacular point wins, all the tension that had accumulated in the extremely intense match had to be released after the converted match point against Carlos Alcaraz and the entry into the semi-finals in Paris. Joy, satisfaction, relief, everything mixed in Zverev’s face and body language. The emotional control that had led Hamburg to a 6: 4, 6: 4, 4: 6 and 7: 6 (9: 7) victory on Tuesday was over. “Thank God I didn’t have to play five sets and end up being disappointed like last year,” said the third in the world rankings, referring to his semi-final defeat in 2021 against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. At that time, Zverev had caught up a 0: 2 set deficit and lost in the end.
Things went better against Alcaraz, as Zverev was able to fend off a set ball in the tie-break to equalize the set 2-2. The third in the world rankings also fended off the attack by the upstart Alcaraz, who was already celebrated beyond measure. Incidentally, Zverev made his negative record against competitors from the top 10 in the world a bit friendlier: Against an opponent of this caliber, the Hamburg native won for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament – Zverev had lost all eleven encounters before.
“Carlos will win this tournament many times in the future”
It can be assumed that the paths of Zverev and Alcaraz will cross at some important tournaments. At 25, the German is in the best tennis age; the 19-year-old Spaniard was the youngest quarter-finalist in Paris since Novak Djokovic in 2006 and will certainly be a regular guest in the second week of the four Grand Slam tournaments in the future. In this respect, the first duel offered a foretaste of further courses with a sweet or bitter end. “Carlos will win this tournament often,” Zverev predicted during the interview on the Philippe-Chatrier court: “I hope to win the tournament by then.”
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On Tuesday, Zverev impressively showed over the 3:18 hours of play that he can fend off the attack of the bold Spaniard with great willpower and playful class. Right from the start, his attitude was that of a top dog who felt challenged by a young rival and demanded respect one after the other. Contrary to what many expected, Alcaraz did not initially put pressure on Zverev with his powerful punches, but it went the other way around. In the sometimes lively shooting competition, who hits the balls harder and hits the corners better, the German also had advantages thanks to his strong serve. “I absolutely had to play my best tennis,” said Zverev.
Alcaraz, who only played his twentieth match in a Grand Slam tournament, was unable to cope with so much counter-pressure from the sovereign on the other side for two sets and made a few mistakes that twice resulted in a momentous loss of service and loss of a set: for the 2 :3 in the first and 3:4 in the second round.
The German went into the match with the inestimable disadvantage that he is well known in the Alcaraz team. Before Juan Carlos Ferrero took over the coaching of his young compatriot, he had tried Zverev in 2017. They won two tournaments together before the sporting relationship broke up after just eight months. What is left of that time are mutual accusations. At the time, Zverev told the FAZ that Ferrero would have shown a lack of respect and also wanted to make him a “calm, balanced guy”. The Spanish version was different: lack of discipline, unpunctuality, too many distractions. Zverev could not have trained at the highest level for ninety minutes without a break, claimed former world number one Ferrero. In Paris, Zverev impressively refuted his former tennis teacher.
From the third set onwards, the duel developed into the highest-class duel seen so far at this year’s French Open: with spectacular shots here and there, sprints from right to left and front to back, with surprising twists and turns. Just minutes after Zverev was unable to use a breakball to make it 5: 4, he lost his service game and thus the third set. In the fourth round he served to win the match when the score was 5:4 – and in turn lost the service game. After the German had fended off a set ball from Alcaraz in the tie-break and then used his second match point, it was finally time for big feelings.
