The balance before the semi-final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome clearly speaks for Alexander Zverev. But watch out for opponent Marin Cilic.
Marin Cilic has established himself in recent years as a man for special moments: The Croatian often takes smaller occasions seriously, but especially in the last twelve months Cilic was always there when the big prize was awarded. Even if it wasn’t enough for the title in Wimbledon or at the Australian Open. Roger Federer stood in his way both times, both matches had their own tragedy: Cilic was plagued by bubbles in Wimbledon, in Melbourne he was on the winning road, and in the fifth set Federer allowed himself an inexplicable period of weakness, which he used for his 20th major title.
Alexander Zverev, on the other hand, has been a pattern of consistency in recent weeks. The last defeat of the German number one dates from the semi-final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo against Kei Nishikori. In Rome, the defending champion lost another set against David Goffin, but of course Zverev had enough to make it into the semi-finals.
The prospects are excellent that Zverev will at least reach the final in the eternal city as last year: The Hamburg native has won four in a row against Cilic, the last of them at the ATP World Tour final in London in 2017, but the experienced player won only the first game, Washington 2015 is almost not true anymore.
Here are the matches between Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic
The Croatian’s playground meets Zverev, Cilic also prefers to play the balls long and hard. Too much variation is not his thing, the backhand slice rarely comes out of his hand. And Cilicx’s biggest weapon, the serve, loses its spice in the comparatively slow conditions in Rome. Zverev, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care about when and where he serves these days: The 21-year-old appears just as untouchable in the depths of Rome as in the heights of Munich or Madrid.
It’s no problem for Zverev to turn the game against Cilic back into a nightly affair – after all, in an interview before his quarter-final against Goffin, the number three in the tennis world explained that he was asleep for 13 hours anyway. So Zverev will be well prepared for the 20:00 start.
Here the single tableau in Rome