Second victory in Paris
Zverev makes reunion with long-time rival perfect
October 31, 2025 – 5:04 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Alexander Zverev is showing good form in Paris. He won in straight sets against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Germany’s best tennis player Alexander Zverev confidently reached the quarterfinals at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris. The defending champion won his second appearance at the tournament this year against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with 6:2, 6:4. “I’m very happy about the level,” said Zverev.
With his success, the world number three made a reunion with his long-time rival Daniil Medvedev perfect. The Hamburger has lost the last five games against the Russian, one of his feared opponents. Most recently he was eliminated in the quarter-finals in Beijing against Medvedev.
The first set against Davidovich Fokina clearly went to Zverev thanks to a significantly lower error rate. Davidovich Fokina made 18 minor errors in the first set, Zverev only three. Zverev took the serve from his opponent to make it 2:1 and 5:2.
In the second section, last year’s winner had to accept a loss of serve for the first time. He took the lead again with a break in the first game, but immediately gave this advantage back. But Zverev remained calm and took the service away from the Spaniard, who had meanwhile had his thigh treated, making it 4:3. After 1:36 hours the victory against the number 15 in the world was achieved.
Previously, Zverev had struggled in his opening game against Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli and only held his own in three sets. “I felt better today. Hopefully I can improve further tomorrow,” said the 28-year-old.
Daniel Altmaier, however, was eliminated in the round of 16. The 27-year-old had to admit defeat to number nine seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6:3, 3:6, 2:6. In the previous round, Altmaier had prevailed against Casper Ruud from Norway, ninth in the world rankings, and thus caused a big surprise.
Altmaier managed an early break against Auger-Aliassime, which he defended confidently afterwards. In the second round, Altmaier missed a break point when the score was 2:2 and had to give up his serve a little later. After 1:28 hours, Auger-Aliassime equalized the set.
Altmaier now lost his rhythm and immediately gave up his service again in the third set. The Canadian was now significantly better and made progress after 2:11 hours.