AAP Tennis

Zverev staves off Etcheverry to reach French Open semi

By AAP Newswire

Jun 8, 2023

Alexander Zverev shrugged off a mid-match wobble to battle his way into a third consecutive French Open semi-final with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

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The German exited Roland Garros in agony last year after tearing ankle ligaments in the semi-finals, but will hope for better luck when he plays Holger Rune or Casper Ruud on Friday.

Zverev piled the pressure on Etcheverry's serve early and was rewarded with a break in the seventh game, but the towering 26-year-old had to claw his way back from 15-40 in the next to hold on to his advantage.

The 22nd seed controlled the tempo of the exchanges and fired a huge backhand down the line before finishing with an easy winner to ensure world number 49 Etcheverry dropped his first set of the tournament in five matches.

But Etcheverry flipped the script to wrap up the second set after sealing two late breaks and went ahead in the next, before Zverev mounted a spirited comeback to retake the lead in the contest.

The energetic Etcheverry, aiming to become the lowest-ranked and first unseeded man to make the Paris semi-finals since world number 72 Marco Cecchinato in 2018, went toe to toe with Zverev but surrendered serve midway through the fourth set.

He then hit some stunning winners with his back to the wall but Zverev weathered the storm and completed the victory with a venomous serve.Â