Boris Becker hails Alexander Zverev after 25-year-old seals spot in Dubai semifinals

Boris Becker took to social media to praise Alexander Zverev after he booked his place in the semifinals of the ongoing Dubai Tennis Championships.

Zverev has had a slow start to the 2023 season, but things are gradually looking up for the German, judging by his outing at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The 25-year-old reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event with wins over Jiri Lehecka and Christopher O'Connell. In the quarters, he faced Lorenzo Sonego and beat him 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals, his first of the 2023 season.

Alexander Zverev's performance drew praise from his compatriot Boris Becker, who took to social media to cheer him on. The former World No. 1 wrote on his Instagram story:

"Way to go Sascha"

Boris Becker's story on social media.

"I'm starting to play decent tennis"- Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Alexander Zverev said in his post-match press conference that he is finally starting to play "decent tennis" following a long period on the sidelines due to injury. The German claimed that he was happy with how the match went and how he handled the high-pressure situations.

"Great. I won. To be honest, I mean, I'm starting to play decent tennis, which is nice after nine months. I'm happy about that. I'm happy with how the match went. I'm also happy how I handled the pressure situations. So all in all I think there's a lot of positives to take from that," Zverev said.

Alexander Zverev was also asked whether he set a particular time as to when he would be back to his best. The German responded by saying that he wasn't playing badly at present and was happy with how he felt on the court.

"I mean, I don't think I'm playing bad now, so... I'm in the semifinals of Dubai. We got to kind of respect that in a way, as well. This tournament has five top-10 players, I don't know how many top-20 players. The cut for the draw is about 25 in the world I feel like. There's no bad players here. I mean, it's tough to say," Zverev said.

"Even when I was at my best, I had matches where I was playing 10 times worse than I'm playing now. Right now I'm happy with how I feel on the court. That's the most important for me," he added.

Zverev will face Andrey Rublev in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. It will be the sixth meeting between the two, with the German leading their head-to-head 5-0. The winner of the match will face either Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev in the final.