Dominic Thiem reaches the semi-finals of the French Open for the third time in a row: The Austrian defeated Alexander Zverev, the second seeded German 6-4, 6-2 and 6-1.
By Jens Huiber from Paris
Shortly before eleven o’clock the square workers had removed the rain cover from the Court Philippe Chatrier, actually a small sensation, as it had poured it extensively until a few minutes before. From a cloud image that didn’t bode well.
Thiem started with a lot of trajectory from the baseline. Zverev took over the second shift, also with a hitting partner.
The conditions had changed radically compared to the previous days. Compared to the last meeting of Zverev and Thiem in the final in Madrid, the difference had already been discussed in advance: Paris is significantly slower, due to the significantly lower altitude and the heavier balls.
Both players started as service controlled offensively, the duel developed as expected from the baseline. Thiem had not had a single chance to break at the last match in the Spanish capital, this time the Austrian came into the match better, took Zverev’s service to 4-3. 6:4 after 39 minutes, Thiem finished with an ace.
In the second act, the Austrian struck in the third game. Thiem looked like the fresher player at the time, no wonder Alexander Zverev had fought his way into his first Grand Slam quarter-finals with three consecutive five-set matches. Thiem immediately won Zverev’s serve for 4:1, the second seeded German let the physiotherapist come to the court.
With bandaged thigh Zverev tried to reach the level of the last weeks. Thiem, however, varied well and kept his opponent permanently in motion. After 74 minutes, Thiem served up a 2-0 lead – a deficit Alexander Zverev has not yet made up in his career.
And Thiem followed immediately, Zverev took his first serve in the third set. The Hamburg native, obviously handicapped, tried to keep the points short. Dominic Thiem, however, played the rallies consistently to the end, even exerted pressure if the game situation allowed it. After 1:49 hours Zverev fended off the first match point Thiems, a few moments the second. But Thiem put the third one into the field with a backhand cross unattainable.
In the semi-final on Friday, Thiem will face either Novak Djokovic or the Italian surprise man Marco Cecchinato. The 24-year-old from Lichtenwörth won his last two games against Djokovic: this year in Monte Carlo – and in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros 2017, the year before the Serb defeated Thiem in three sets in his first major semi-final.
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