Alexander Zverev back in French Open semi-final after 'most difficult year'

June 8, 2023

Alexander Zverev returns to Roland Garros semi-final after ‘most difficult year’ of his life

Alexander Zverev has returned to the semi-final of Roland Garros, where he picked up his horrific ankle injury last year against Rafael Nadal.

Zverev beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4, to successfully defend his Roland Garros ranking points from 2022.

Alexander Zverev defeats Tomas Martin 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reaches third consecutive #RolandGarros semifinal.
Watch the highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/05QzKIf18n
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2023

The German has struggled for form this year, being unable to win more than three consecutive matches, following tearing all three lateral ligaments after rolling his ankle in Paris last year.

Zverev spoke about how he felt after the match, commenting on how he wanted to go all the way, “I’m happy to be in a semi-final of a Grand Slam any time that I’m there but for me, the tournament is not over.”

He added, “I’m happy to be here, but I know that hopefully I have two more matches ahead, and they’re not going to get easier.”

The 26-year-old reflected on how difficult the last year has been for him, “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.”

Zverev continued, “I couldn’t play for the first seven months of my injury. Then for the next three, four months, I was still in pain. I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to.”

“I think I’m at a stage now where I’m not thinking about the injury so much anymore. I’m not thinking about what happened. I’m just happy to be back where I was last year, and I have another chance. Hopefully I can take it.”

Then 🆚 Now
Alexander Zverev's comeback has been nothing short of remarkable at Roland Garros. pic.twitter.com/Mj9QyRbf9x
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) June 7, 2023

It is the sixth time that Zverev has reached a Grand Slam semi-final, with the former No.2 only reaching a major final once before.

The current ATP No.27 spoke about the importance of majors to him, “Grand Slams are tennis history. That’s what you play for. I think the two most important things in tennis are Grand Slams and the Olympic Games. When you are in a semi-final or final of either of those, I think that’s very different from being in a final of another tournament.”

Zverev will play his semi-final against 2022 finalist Casper Ruud tomorrow, as he bids to become the first German man to reach the Roland Garros final since Michael Stich in 1996.