Alexander Zverev will be entitled to his revenge. A year after taking a correction of unexpected proportions against Casper Ruud (6-3, 6-4, 6-0) in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros, the 27-year-old German will find the Norwegian at the same stage of the competition, Friday in Paris. Wednesday evening on Chatrier, the world number 4 logically dominated Alex de Minaur (6-4, 7-6 [5]6-4) in the quarter-finals, in a disjointed encounter (101 unforced errors in total for only 48 winning shots) and overall not very exciting.
From the first balls hit, and while the stands were slightly sparse, Alex de Minaur’s desire was clear: to take Alexander Zverev out of his comfort zone and not lock himself into long, repeated rallies from the back of the court where the significantly superior power of the German would end up, almost automatically, making the difference.
For this, the 25-year-old player, foal of Adolfo Gutierrez, used a lot of backhand slice, in order to force his opponent to play low balls, and drop shot, to attract him to the net. He also tried to find short crossing angles and did not hesitate to advance into the field with the ambition of shortening the rally.
De Minaur varies but misses too much
It worked at times, for example during the break at 2-1 where the 11th in the world managed two splendid backhand cushioned volleys before concluding the game with a magnificent winning lob. But the Australian also made a lot of unprovoked mistakes. Too much, especially on the backhand side, not to be punished against a world top 5 who fed on their errors to break twice (four unforced errors from De Minaur in these two games) and pocket the first set, 6- 4 in 50 minutes.
The second round started on the same bases as the first: variations for “ADM”, power for Zverev. Again, the higher ranked of the two, who had won seven of their first nine duels on the circuit, managed the first break at 2-2, but the Australian immediately came back up to par.
Against Ruud, Zverev will aim for his second Grand Slam final
Very clumsy on the forehand side, the German folded, until saving a set point on his commitment at 6-5, before being led 4-0 then 5-3 in the decisive game. But De Minaur, suddenly timid, was unable to conclude. He lost the last four points of the tie-break, finally giving up on a big forehand error.
Despite Paul’s support, his lucky 14-year-old fan, De Minaur, less realistic than his opponent on break points (3/8 converted against 4/5 by the German), had taken a blow to the helmet . At 3-2 in favor of Zverev, he redacted his service game, ending with a “baduf” backhand and a double fault which gave the German the break. Two points from the defeat at 5-3, 30A, he made his break from behind by being, once again, the most active player on the court. But Chatrier didn’t have time to get carried away as a final backhand into the net from the Australian concluded the game a few moments later at 5-4.
For the fourth time in a row, Zverev reached the final four at Porte d’Auteuil. This will be his eighth Grand Slam semi-final. He will aim for his second final against Ruud after the lost one against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open. The two men have faced each other four times and won twice each.