Mumbai: In his on-court interview after the quarter-final, Alexander Zverev was asked if he felt proud that he had entered his fifth French Open semi-final. “Not really,” said the German. “Don’t really care. I want to win the matches that are ahead of me.”
The answer was unusual, but in a way summed up the almost paradoxical storyline of Zverev and Grand Slams.
This is a guy who has only twice not made it to the second week of Majors since 2024, who has been to at least the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since 2021, and who has been to as many Slam finals as the player who beat him for the 2020 US Open title, Dominic Thiem.
But this is also a guy without a Slam.
Zverev has another shot at it. Perhaps as good as the 29-year-old will ever get.
The world No.3 defeated Czech Jakub Mensik (No.27) 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-final on Friday to earn a fourth appearance in a Slam final, and a second at the French Open.
He will face Italian Flavio Cobolli, who received a walkover after his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the second semi-final due to a viral illness.
The last time Zverev was there, Carlos Alcaraz beat him from two sets down in 2024. Before that, Thiem beat him from two sets to love down in the US Open final. Last year, Jannik Sinner crushed him in the Australian Open final. This time, he will take on an Italian ranked 12th playing his first Major final.
In terms of rankings, stature, experience and form, this is now Zverev’s crown to seize.
He’s done an efficient job of placing himself on the cusp, in a draw where Sinner and Novak Djokovic left early. Zverev wasn’t going anywhere, having dropped only one set coming into the semi-final.
Mensik, the 20-year-old Czech who had been dangerous on the red dirt, was going to be the “toughest challenge so far”, as Zverev admitted after the match. And he put on a spectacle handling it with his game despite the opponent’s tactics and in his mind, and despite a third-set blip.
Mensik walked into his first Slam semi-final with a clear plan, which was evident when he dished out a drop shot off the third point and a serve and volley to hold the opening game.
Zverev stuck to his guns, a baseline game of strength with a backhand to savour. The German asked consistent questions through the early service games of the Czech, who deployed the serve out wide followed by the volley to good effect.
Zverev’s serve, for a change, was under pressure in the eighth game. In control of the point at 15-30, Zverev sent Mensik wide with a crosscourt forehand and then hit a backhand volley at the net. The 6’5’’ frame sprinted across the baseline to deliver a curving backhand pass that left Andre Agassi, seated in the front row, impressed and Zverev battling break points. He managed to hold on, and kicked on from there.
Two double faults from Mensik and a brilliant backhand winner from Zverev gave the second seed an opening at 5-5. A drop shot that had too much air eventually became Mensik’s undoing as Zverev broke at the first time of asking. And, at the third time of asking, closed out the hour-long opening set with an ace.
If Zverev’s backhand is a symbol of solidity, his forehand is a measure of confidence. That forehand came to the forefront in the second set, with its quality shooting up from 7.2 in the first to 9.5. And when a forehand crosscourt pass set up a break opportunity in the third game, Zverev took it after another failed drop attempt from Mensik. The Czech’s serving efficiency was dipping (won 69% on the first and 25% on the second), and as he littered another double fault to hand another break, the wind seemed out of his sails.
Suddenly, though, after taking a medical timeout early in the third set, it gushed back. Mensik’s first strike (won 9/10 first serve points) carried venom, as did the second (11/14 second serve points). Zverev’s forehand turned vulnerable (11 unforced errors, seven off the forehand) through the set. The solitary break by Mensik for 4-2 kept him alive in the contest.
Not for too long. Zverev’s first serves were back in the fourth set, and so were the clean groundstrokes. An error-littered game in turn from Mensik earned Zverev the break in the second game. That was all the German needed to shut the door on the Czech, and book a second final date in France.
“I hope to play another great match on Sunday,” he said.
