Alexander Zverev pulled off an upset of epic proportions at the 2022 French Open, defeating one of the title favorites in the quarterfinals. Facing off against Carlos Alcaraz, the German scored a rather dominant 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) victory to reach the semifinals.
The win was the World No. 3's first over a top-10 opponent in a Grand Slam and brought to an end a 14-match win-streak that Alcaraz was on. The 25-year-old fell to the Spaniard the last time they faced off, in the final of the Madrid Open, but defeated the World No. 6 with a sublime performance on Tuesday.
To his credit, Carlos Alcaraz did his very best to stay alive in the fourth set tie-break, pulling off a couple of exquisite points that brought the Court Philippe-Chartrier crowd to its feet. But the German held his nerve admirably to close out the match in four.
Since Alcaraz was widely tipped to be the overwhelming favorite to book his place in the semifinals, tennis fans on social media could not believe the final result.
While many hailed the teenager for putting on a brave performance against a more experienced player, several Twitter users praised Zverev for fending off Alcaraz's late assault and sticking to his guns.
"Arguably the best performance of Zverev’s career. Found big serves whenever he needed them + was excellent in the outer thirds + kept himself in the rally long enough to “force” the Alcaraz UFE. First two sets were meh, but as Alcaraz raised his level Zverev responded. Fun match," one fan tweeted.
"Alexander Zverev's reaction spoke volumes. He's never taken well to being downplayed. Don't see it as much at Slams, but he knows how to approach the biggest matches. Nothing passive about that final tiebreak. Didn't get cagey. Sheer quality to oust Alcaraz, and it was necessary," another user posted.
"I am just glad that he can no longer be compared to [Rafael Nadal of] 2005, that has ended today," one user tweeted.
"The commentary referring to that as one of the biggest wins of Alexander Zverev's career says a great deal more about how f**king amazing 19 year old Carlos Alcaraz is than it does about anything else," another fan wrote.
Alexander Zverev takes on either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the French Open
Following his win over Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev will cross swords with either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2022 French Open. The duo face off later tonight in what is arguably the biggest clash of the tournament.
The German trails 6-3 in the head-to-head against Nadal and 7-4 against the Serb. This is the fifth Grand Slam semifinal the World No. 3 has reached in his career and second consecutive in Paris.
A win would pit Zverev against a maiden French Open finalist after last year's runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Holger Rune in the fourth round. Rune, along with Andrey Rublev, Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud, stand a chance of reaching the final from the other side of the draw.
Also Check Out :- French Open 2022 Results