The second semifinal of the 2024 French Open had Alexander Zverev pitched against Casper Ruud. It was the Norwegian’s fourth appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal, all three of the previous appearances leading to finals.
This was Alexander Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam semifinal, reaching a final once before in the 2020 US Open. When Djokovic withdrew from the French Open due to injury, it became the first French Open since 2005 not to feature either of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer.
The final will feature the tenth-ever meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev. Zverev has overcome the Spaniard in five of their meetings. Alcaraz has won two of the three times they’ve met on a clay-court, with Zverev winning the only other time they met in the French Open, in the 2022 quarterfinal.
Alexander Zverev Goes Behind Early
Alexander Zverev ferociously started the match, pulling up one breakpoint in the first game of the match. Casper Ruud managed to claw back to deuce before securing the game to lead the set.
Zverev mistimed a few groundstrokes, and double faults, and hit a few intended winners long to hand Casper Ruud the break of his serve to love. Ruud consolidated his serve and stepped up his game, playing a nearly flawless set of tennis. He went on to secure the double break in the eighth game to win the set 6-2.
Zverev Equalizes And Takes The Lead
After a 35-minute first-set masterclass from Casper Ruud, the second set started in polar opposite terms from the first. Alexander Zverev attacked Casper Ruud’s serve, eventually pulling up two break points. The Norwegian saved the first breakpoint, but the German forced a lob from Ruud that went long to seal the break at the second time of asking.
The second set was Zverev’s turn to play a near-flawless set. In the fourth game, he pulled up two breakpoints again, sealing the break at the second attempt. Alexander Zverev served out the set to equalize at a score of 2-6, 6-2.
Zverev begins the third set impressively, running through each service game to a 2-2 third-set score. Ruud had called for the trainer during the fourth game for a stomach ache, but that didn’t stop Zverev from barraging him into conceding a break in the fifth game. Zverev served out the set to lead 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Zverev Serves Out A Well-played Set
Casper Ruud went for treatment between the third and fourth set and upon return, was a shadow of himself in the first game. Alexander Zverev easily picked him apart to secure a quick break of his serve in the first game of the set.
Casper Ruud found it difficult to serve out his games from there on out. Every point had to be short while Zverev attacked every serve ferociously. In the seventh game of the set, Ruud blows a 30-0 lead. Zverev quickly takes advantage with a backhand down the line to secure the double break and lead 5-2.
Alexander Zverev served out the set to make it to the final. It’s the second time he’s played in a Grand Slam final since 2020 when he lost to Dominic Thiem in the US Open final. He’s also the second German to reach the final of the French Open since Michael Stich did it in 1996.
Note:
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner earlier in the day to reach his first French Open final. With Alexander Zverev also reaching the final, it is the first-ever French Open final for both finalists.
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Ebenezer has been an avid writer for over a decade and a half. Within that period, he has garnered experience in various fields such as editing, graphics design, transcribing, sales, data analysis, and football management. He’s also the author of the mystery thriller novel “The Eye of Ra.” For more articles by Ebenezer Ugorji, click here and here!
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