Zverev vs Medvedev: Paris Semifinal – Tennis Highlights

Defending champion Alexander Zverev reached the semi-finals of the tennis tournament in Paris with a prestigious victory against feared opponent Daniil Medvedev. The 28-year-old won against Medvedev 2:6, 6:3, 7:6 (7:5) despite a weak start and a fall in the first set. It was the world number three’s first success against the Russian after five defeats in a row.

“At the beginning I felt that I was playing well – but also very stupid,” said Zverev with a smile in an interview on the pitch. But tactically he improved, “I remained courageous and won the match in the crucial moments.”

Zverev will face Italy’s tennis star Jannik Sinner, who beat Ben Shelton from the USA 6:3, 6:3 in his quarterfinal, in the fight for the final at the Masters 1000 tournament on Saturday. Zverev only lost against the world number two in the final of the ATP tournament in Vienna last Sunday after three sets and a tough fight.

For Zverev it is already the fourth semi-final of the Paris tournament; in this statistic he drew level with, among others, the Swiss tennis icon Roger Federer. Only Novak Djokovic (9), Rafael Nadal (5) and Boris Becker (5) have more semi-final appearances here.

From Zverev’s perspective, a scene in the first set when the score was 2:5 caused a moment of shock: the Hamburger had visibly hurt himself when he fell after a long step. The world number three lay on the floor with his face contorted in pain and grabbed the back of his left thigh before his opponent helped him up. The German was able to continue playing without any noticeable restrictions.

Zverev’s tactic of going to the net more on the slow surface and thus avoiding the long rallies with the Russian defensive artist was immediately clear. But that hardly worked at first. Zverev often did not prepare his attacks at the net sufficiently, Medvedev countered strongly and took Zverev’s serve twice.

In the second set, Zverev couldn’t win his first serve game, but he immediately got the re-break to make it 1-1 and became stronger overall. After winning the second break to make it 5:3, the German number one deservedly secured the second round.

In the deciding set, both players had problems getting their serves through. The quality suffered a little at times, but there was nothing to criticize them for fighting. Zverev, who was a little happier in the end, fended off two match points and scored his first match point after two and a half hours.