Stefanos Tsitasipas and Alexander Zverev will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers and for second time this season when they clash in the French Open semifinals on Friday afternoon.
Zverev won their most recent meeting 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Acapulco final three months ago, but Tsitsipas still leads the head-to-head series 5-2. The Greek got the best of their only previous clay-court encounter via a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 decision at the 2019 Madrid Masters. Tsitsipas is 5-1 at Zverev’s expense since losing their first matchup at the 2018 Washington, D.C. event.
With both players in outstanding form, a high-quality affair can be expected. The three clay-court Masters events leading into Roland Garros were split by Tsitsipas, Zverev, and Rafael Nadal. Tsitsipas also came within one point of upsetting Nadal in the Barcelona final and he captured a 250 title in Lyon. Zverev followed up his Madrid triumph with a quarterfinal performance in Rome (lost to Nadal 6-3, 6-4). Their treks through the French Open draw have been impressive, too. Tsitsipas has lost only one set–in the the third round against John Isner. Zverev has won 15 consecutive sets since losing the first two of his fortnight to Oscar Otte.
As well as Zverev is playing, the edge on Friday has to go to Tsitsipas. The world No. 5 was in this same situation last year–against a tougher opponent, actually, in Novak Djokovic–and he handled it extremely well, coming within one set of reaching his first Grand Slam final. Tsitsipas’ movement is superior to Zverev’s on clay and his forehand is more consistent, making it better able to withstand longer rallies that always arise on the red clay of Paris.
The sixth-ranked German will have to serve extremely well to make up for his opponent’s advantages, but he has already thrown in 27 double-faults during this tournament (Tsitsipas, by comparison, has hit only 12).
Like Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals, Zverev should be able to make it competitive. In the end, however, Tsitsipas will simply be too good on clay.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 4
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WWW: Tsitsipas vs. Zverev?
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