French Open: Alexander Zverev edges tight battle with Tomas Etcheverry to make semi-finals at Roland-Garros

Alexander Zverev edged a tight battle with Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 to make the semi-finals of the French Open.

It represents full circle for the German after he retired from the last four of Roland-Garros last year after sustaining a serious ankle injury while playing eventual winner Rafael Nadal.

Zverev defeated Grigor Dimitrov on Monday in straight sets as he impressed against the veteran Bulgarian, and showed some of his best form after recovering his fitness.

Zverev had already spurned two break-point chances in the first set, before taking his third to lead Etcheverry 4-3.

The No. 22 seed then, remarkably, faced two break points on his own serve in the very next game, but saved them as he went on to wrap up the opener 6-4.

Etcheverry had taken out three seeds on his way to the quarter-finals – Alex De Minaur, Borna Coric and Yoshihito Nishioka, all in straight sets – and he was quickly on the comeback trail here, staying out of trouble on his service games and then breaking Zverev twice at the back of the set – the Argentinian was broken just once – to take it 6-3.

Zverev was back on top in set three as he regrouped to take it 6-3, but the beginning of the fourth set was more equal as the crowd began to come into play, recognising its importance.

But then Zverev broke in game seven, and saw out his final service game to progress into his sixth Grand Slam semi-final.

“He’s playing incredible tennis. He reminds me a lot of Juan Martin del Potro, his forehand especially the way he hits it. He’s an incredible player, he’s very young. I think if he keeps playing like this he’s going to be in the quarter-finals a lot more often. I think he can be top 10, and win big tournaments. I wish nothing but the best for him, hopefully he can continue this way.

“The conditions during the day are a lot better for me,” Zverev said of the atmosphere in the day. “The ball is faster, the ball is a lot higher, so I think the way I play tennis on clay, faster conditions are definitely better. The adjustment is still more for the night . Overall it doesn’t matter, I’m in the Roland-Garros and I’m happy, there’s nothing else to talk about.

“The 5-4 game I thought from both of us was incredible. At the end of the day, I think, I hope I deserved to win. I’m just happy to be through.

“As I said before, it was the most difficult year of my life. I love tennis with all my heart. I love the competitive spirit and that was taken away from me one year ago.”

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