Alexander Zverev held his place. Opposed in the final to the surprise Nicolas Jarry, for the first time at this stage in Masters 1000, the German, 5th in the world, relied on his serve while showing himself to be very solid in the exchange to win (6 -4, 7-5) and win the title this Sunday in Rome.
The 5th in the world, winner of his 6th Masters 1000 at the age of 27 (after Rome and Montreal in 2017, Madrid in 2018, Madrid and Cincinnati in 2021), is among the favorites of Roland-Garros. On Monday, he will be 4th, ahead of Daniil Medvedev, which will allow him, if Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are present, to avoid them before the semi-finals.
In Rome, Zverev gleaned his 22nd title and his first Masters 1000 since Cincinnati, in August 2021, and therefore since his serious injury to his right ankle in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros 2022, which stopped him in his tracks . “The last two years have been very difficult. I didn’t think I would win again here.” Zverev said during the awards ceremony.
The German did everything to be champion in the Italian capital. This Sunday, he served extremely well: 6 aces, 80% of first serves, only two points lost behind his first serve and three behind his second, no break points to save. And in the exchange, he was very solid.
Only eight unforced errors
Jarry served very well at the start of the match – 85% of points won behind his first ball in the first set – which allowed him to compete. But while he was serving to get back to 5-5, the Chilean made three mistakes on the forehand and the German pocketed the first set.
In great difficulty as soon as he engaged a second ball, Jarry, who on Monday will be 17th in the world – the best ranking of his career – seemed more borrowed. And if his forehand sometimes hurt Zverev (10 winning shots), he also made numerous unforced errors (16 forehands, 29 in total), while the 5th in the world missed little, with only 8 unforced errors.
If he was passive on the first two match points which he obtained at 5-4, the German went for victory with an acceleration of the forehand. Zverev, who remains in three semi-finals in a row at Roland-Garros, arrives in Paris with momentum. And if he serves at this level, destabilizing him may be difficult.