Paris: Third seed Alexander Zverev reached the French Open semi-finals for the second successive year after surviving teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz’s fightback.
Continuing his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title, Zverev won 6-4 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9-7) against the sixth seed.
The German, 25, served strongly and was superb from the back of court, but 19-year-old Alcaraz made too many errors.
A semi-final against defending champion Novak Djokovic or 13-time winner Rafael Nadal, who meet next, awaits Zverev.
“I knew I had to play my absolute best tennis from the start,” said Zverev.
“He is an incredible player and I told him at the net he will win this tournament many times, not just once.
“I hope I can win it once before he does – and starts beating us all.”
World number three Zverev lost to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year and reached the same stage by producing his best performance of this tournament.
Now, after beating Alcaraz to earn his first win over a top-10 opponent at a major, Zverev will aim to go one step further.
The Olympic champion has lost three of his four previous major semi-finals, and when he did progress, was beaten in the 2020 US Open final by Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
