Andy Roddick has given his verdict on Alexander Zverev’s performance against Rafael Jodar in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.
Zverev is the favourite to win Roland Garros this year, as a result of the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and early defeats to Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic in Paris.
The German is just two wins away from his first Grand Slam final, with Zverev beating Jodar 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Roland Garros semifinals.
Zverev has dropped just one set at Roland Garros this year, and former world number one Roddick has rated his latest win against Jodar.
Andy Roddick says Alexander Zverev played his best tennis against Rafael Jodar
Roddick has picked Zverev to win the Roland Garros title this year, and he was impressed by the world number three’s tennis in his win over Jodar, calling his performance in the second set the best he has played all tournament.
“It’s weird because Zverev with being crowned the favourite, he has started off both matches – against [Jesper] De Jong he was down a break and this one he was down a break,” Roddick said on his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast.
“And then he found his range. I am telling you, the second two sets was the best I have seen him play this tournament. He has started spreading the serve out.
“One of the concerns that I had was that Jodar has bigger swings, will he be able to return off Zverev’s serve? He was when it was centred in the court. Then Zverev started spreading him out. So that first ball was not in the middle for Jodar, it was stretched.
“The one thing I think is worth talking about is that people like to [criticise] Zverev’s forehand, he can roll it, he can’t flatten it out as much as we would like. He can burn you forehand to forehand, if he runs around it and pulls it to your forehand, he can create pace on that shot.
“The one he is missing is the one above his shoulder and flattens it out, where it has some sidespin, but it’s almost less important because his backhand is so good, if he finds space he basically started really attacking the forehand side of Jodar and then Jodar would turn on it and it would create space to the backhand. Jodar would either have to go line and take risk or go into Zverev’s pocket.”
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Zverev has now reached his 11th Grand Slam semifinal, as he moves to within just two wins of an elusive Grand Slam title.
From his 10 previous Grand Slam semifinals, Zverev has won just three of those, compared to seven losses.
The most recent of these defeats came at the Australian Open earlier this year, where Zverev lost to eventual champion Alcaraz, despite serving for the match.
Four of Zverev’s 10 previous Grand Slam semifinals have come at Roland Garros, three of which he has lost, but he won the most recent against Casper Ruud in 2024.
| Grand Slam where Zverev reached the semifinal | Semifinal result |
| Australian Open 2020 | Dominic Thiem beat Zverev, 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(4) |
| US Open 2020 | Zverev beat Pablo Carreno Busta, 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3 |
| Roland Garros 2021 | Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Zverev, 6-3 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 |
| US Open 2021 | Novak Djokovic beat Zverev, 4-6 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-2 |
| Roland Garros 2022 | Rafael Nadal beat Zverev, 7-6(8) 6-6 (Zverev retired) |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Casper Ruud beat Zverev, 6-3 6-4 6-0 |
| Australian Open 2024 | Daniil Medvedev beat Zverev, 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 |
| Roland Garros 2024 | Zverev beat Casper Ruud, 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-2 |
| Australian Open 2025 | Zverev beat Novak Djokovic, 7-6(5) (Djokovic retired) |
| Australian Open 2026 | Carlos Alcaraz beat Zverev, 6-4 7-6(5) 6(3)-7 6(4)-7 7-5 |
Zverev will play Jakub Mensik in the Roland Garros semifinal this year, where he will be the favourite as he is ranked 25 places higher than his opponent.
This will be a second meeting between the two players, with Zverev beating Mensik at the Madrid Open last month.
