In the first quarterfinal of the “Roland Garros” men’s singles, Sascha Zverev defeated Spanish tennis talent Rafael Jodar (ATP-29) with a score of 7:6(3), 6:1, 6:3 in 2 hours and 17 minutes.
Read more Group C: Brazil’s burden, Morocco’s ambition, and two long-awaited returns
The greater intrigue in this match was only in the first set, in which young Rafa had taken a 5:2 lead, but then allowed his opponent to come back and completely gave control to the world’s third-ranked player.
The key was the first set tiebreak, in which A. Zverev demonstrated that in the extensions in Paris he simply has no equal.
At the “Roland Garros” tournament, out of 28 played tiebreaks, this was already the 26th victory for the German, with the only losses suffered in 2019 to Australian John Millman and in 2022 to the clay king Rafael Nadal.
Read more These urinary symptoms should cause concern: noticing and assessing them is not difficult
For the 29-year-old tennis player, this will be his fifth “French Open” semifinal in the past six years. In terms of total semifinals reached in Paris, he now shares 6th-9th places with Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl, and Andy Murray, while being surpassed by Bjorn Borg (6), Mats Wilander (6), Roger Federer (8), Novak Djokovic (13), and R. Nadal (15).
A. Zverev’s semifinal opponent will be decided in a few hours when Joao Fonseca (ATP-30) and Jakub Mensik (ATP-27) face off on the center court.
Meanwhile, the just 19-year-old R. Jodar can be proud of his first clay season. Young Rafa won an ATP 250 series tournament in Morocco, reached the semifinals in Barcelona, and the quarterfinals in Paris, Madrid, and Rome.
