Alexander Zverev moved closer to his first Grand Slam championship after defeating Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar 7-6(3) 6-1 6-3 to advance to the French Open semifinals on Tuesday.
The German second seed overcame an early setback to secure victory against the 19-year-old opponent, earning his fifth semifinal berth at Roland Garros in the past six years. With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury and both world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic already eliminated, Zverev has an excellent opportunity to capture his first major championship.
His next opponent will be either Czech player Jakub Mensik or Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, with a finals berth on the line.
When questioned about reaching another semifinal, Zverev demonstrated his focus on the bigger prize ahead.
“Not really, I don’t really care. I want to keep going, be in the tournament and win the matches ahead of me, that’s my goal,” he said.
“It was a very tough test against a very good player.”
The match started according to expectations, with the highly-regarded Jodar taking an early 4-2 advantage by breaking Zverev’s serve in the opening set.
But the experienced German maintained his focus and fought back into contention, utilizing a series of crosscourt backhand shots that forced his young opponent out of position. Zverev managed to even the score at 5-5 before dominating the tiebreak to claim the first set.
After dropping that crucial opening set, Jodar was unable to recover his form and never mounted a serious challenge for the remainder of the match.
