Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev is getting better and better two weeks before the French Open.
The third in the world rankings defeated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters in Madrid 6: 4, 3: 6, 6: 2 and thus challenges the fright of favorites Carlos Alcaraz in the final on Sunday. The winner receives more than one million euros in prize money.
It was already after eleven o’clock when Zverev played the first ball on his late shift. The 25-year-old got off to a good start, only losing the thread a bit in the second set. When it came down to it, Zverev was there again and converted his first match point after 1:53 hours. In the eleventh duel with Tsitsipas it was his fourth win.
Novak Djokovic retired on the hot sand despite a steeply rising form curve. The world number one lost his high-class semi-final against the new crowd favorite Alcaraz 7: 6 (7: 5), 5: 7, 6: 7 (5: 7) and missed his second final of the year after his final defeat in Belgrade. In Roland Garros, the 34-year-old is the defending champion from May 22nd.
The sensational Alcaraz (19), who will climb to sixth place in the world rankings on Monday, defeated Rafael Nadal (35) for the first time in the Spanish generational duel on Friday – and he also demanded everything from Djokovic in the first meeting. However, the Serb held back well, he played tactically well and countered his opponent’s whipping blows or his countless stops. In the end, however, he ran out of strength after more than three and a half hours.
Djokovic generally wants to take it easy. “I don’t care who’s on the other side of the net,” he said. “I just want to get better and better, every day. I’m just concentrating on myself at the moment.”
At the Australian Open in January, the 20-time Grand Slam winner was not allowed to start as an unvaccinated athlete. Most recently, he called the legal dispute over his entry “a strong psychological burden”.