Rome (AP) – Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev missed the final at the clay court tournament in Rome. The 25-year-old lost in the semifinals against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6: 4, 3: 6, 3: 6 in just over two and a half hours.
World number five Tsitsipas meets Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final of the Masters 1000 tournament in Italy, who defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud 6: 4, 6: 3 in the second semifinal. World number three Zverev got off to a good start in the twelfth duel against Tsitsipas, who was two places behind, and won the first set. But in the second round, the 23-year-old Greek came into play better and better, while Zverev made too many mistakes. In the third set, Tsitsipas managed what was probably the decisive break in the fifth game – Zverev gave his opponent the break ball with his fourth double fault of the game.
In what was already the third semi-final this year between the two world-class players, the Greek celebrated his second victory, which was not undeserved. In Madrid a week ago he lost in three sets against Zverev, previously in Monte Carlo Tsitsipas had clearly won in two rounds. Overall, it was the eighth win for the Greek tennis pro.
After beating Tsitsipas the previous week, Zverev had no chance against young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in the final in Madrid. For the French Open, which starts on May 22nd, the Olympic champion still has room for improvement.