Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev is just one step away from his first tournament victory this year – and apparently in Grand Slam form a week and a half before the start of the French Open. Thanks to a significant improvement in performance, the third-seeded Hamburger prevailed in the semifinals of the Masters in Rome against the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 1:6, 7:6 (7:4), 6:2.
Zverev will face Tabilo’s compatriot Nicolas Jarry or the American Tommy Paul in the final on Sunday. Zverev’s last tournament victory was last September, when he celebrated his 21st title on the tour in Chengdu, China.
The fifth in the world rankings last won a Masters in 2021; he triumphed for the first and only time in Rome in 2017. For the third time he is in the final in the Eternal City, for the eleventh time at Masters level – as many times as Boris Becker.
Lost the first set quickly
Against Tabilo, number 32 in the ATP ranking, Zverev was in a losing position in the first set and had to give up the round after just 32 minutes. In the second set, nine days before the start of the French Open, Germany’s number one finally found his dominant baseline game, but the first duel with the left-hander Tabilo, who was a year younger, remained close.
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In the tiebreak, Zverev stayed cool and celebrated winning the set as if he had won a match. In the third set he left no doubt about his success and let out a long cry of joy after reaching the final.
The path to triumph in Rome seems to have been paved for Zverev. The world number one Novak Djokovic and the number two seed, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, were eliminated early. Local hero Jannik Sinner skipped the start in Rome due to complaints, as did the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
