2023-06-08 20:45:47
Alexander Zverev walked onto the training grounds of the French Open with a big smile on his face and then started his big mission focused.
“Grand Slams are tennis history,” said Zverev before his appearance on Friday (from 5.30 p.m. in LIVETICKER). And the best German professional wants to immortalize himself in the history of his sport. He has had a gold medal since the summer games in Tokyo – now a Grand Slam trophy is to come. A year following the devastating ankle injury, he probably didn’t see Zverev getting the chance.
“I’m extremely happy to be here, but the tournament isn’t over yet,” he said ahead of his game once morest last year’s finalist Ruud.
And even the initially highly skeptical experts suddenly no longer consider anything to be impossible. EurosportExpert Boris Becker sees Zverev back “where he was a year ago” and Mats Wilander, who had triumphed three times in Paris, said: “He’s so good: why shouldn’t he win his first Grand Slam here in Paris?”
There is a good chance of being the first German to reach the Paris final since Michael Stich in 1996. But in Ruud, Zverev is now facing a top ten player for the first time in this tournament, who also noticeably senses his chance of a final ticket. In the second semi-final, the two top favorites Carlos Alcaraz (20) and Novak Djokovic compete in a great generational duel.
“Casper was already in this situation, he was here in the final and knows exactly what to do,” said Zverev regarding Ruud, who was only stopped by clay court king Rafael Nadal last year: “He is a very, very good tennis player .” But the record speaks for the Hamburger – he won two out of three games. They haven’t met each other on sand yet.
Zverev will do everything to get one step closer to fulfilling his lifelong dream. So far he has only been in a Grand Slam final in New York in 2020, when he narrowly failed at the Austrian Dominic Thiem. Now he thinks he’s close once more – the long period of suffering is forgotten.
“I got a new chance,” said Zverev: “And hopefully I can use it.”
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