Tennis - Knee holds: Zverev sovereign into the semifinals in Hamburg
Kaum had Alexander Zverev converted his match ball, the La Ola was already making its way through the Tennis Stadium at Hamburg's Rothenbaum. The 9,000 enthusiastic spectators celebrated their local hero after his sovereign 6:4, 6:3 win against Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen. The Olympic gold medalist and title defender remains in his home tournament and plays on Saturday in the semifinals for another entry into the Final.
"It's amazing to play on this court," said the fourth-ranked player in the world. He showed how well he felt in the stadium earlier in his match against Zhang Zhizhen. Unlike in the hard-fought and long quarterfinal against Frenchman Hugo Gaston, Zverev dominated from the start this time.
Zverev: "A huge improvement"
Against the Chinese player, against whom he played for the first time, he showed his best performance of the week. His injured left knee seemed to cause him fewer problems. This bodes well for the Olympic Games in a week in Paris. "It was a huge improvement over yesterday. But it was also a different match," said Zverev about his performance.
The Hamburg native relied on his serve again. He made ten aces and 24 winner points. The decisive break for the win of the first set came at 3:2. At the beginning of the second set, Zverev took his opponent's serve away again. After 1 hour and 6 minutes, he converted the first match ball. "I prefer it when I don't play for so long," said Zverev, looking back at the quarterfinal.
He plays now on Saturday against Pedro Martinez for another entry into the Final of the ATP500 Tournament. The Spaniard had surprisingly defeated the fourth-seeded Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo 1:6, 6:1, 6:4 earlier.
Favorite Holger Rune withdraws
The second semifinal is contested by Argentinian Sebastián Báez and Arthur Fils. The Frenchman advanced to the final round with the retirement of the second-seeded Holger Rune due to injury. The Danish player had complained of knee problems the day before. The third-seeded clay court specialist Báez defeated Italian Luciano Darderi 2:6, 6:4, 6:4 in the quarterfinals.
Zverev's victory in the semifinals means he'll compete in the final of the ATP500 tournament in Hamburg, seeking another title on his home soil. The sight of a soccer ball may not be as appealing to him as a tennis ball, but Alexander Zverev's love for tennis is evident, especially in tournaments like this. Despite the ATP500 being a prestigious event, Zverev's eyes are set on the Olympic Games in Germany, where he hopes to continue his strong form.
