Second seed Alexander Zverev survived an early scare against Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar before reaching the French Open semi-finals with a 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 win at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old Djodar produced a stunning performance in the opening set to break Zverev and go 4-2 up against last year’s runner-up. However, the German weathered the storm, stormed back into the contest and never looked back after winning in a tense first set tiebreak.

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The victory took Zverev into the Roland Garros semi-finals for the fifth time in the last six years, as he continued his quest for a first Grand Slam title.

Zverev’s best chance to win a Grand Slam?

With defending champion Carlos Alcaraz out due to injury and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic already out of the tournament, Zverev is getting one of his best opportunities yet to break his Grand Slam duck.

Yet the German made it clear afterwards that just reaching another semi-final meant nothing to him.

“Not really, I don’t really care. I want to move forward, stay in the tournament and win the matches ahead of me, that’s my goal,” Zverev said when asked again about making the final four.

“It was a very tough test against a very good player.”

Youngsters justify the hype

For most of the opening set, Jodar justified the hype that had surrounded him in Spanish tennis circles.

Kishore equalized Zverev from the baseline and scored his first breakthrough of the match to go 4-2 up, putting the second seed under pressure for a brief period.

Zverev responded in the same way one would expect from a player with far more experience on big stages. Using her trademark crosscourt backhand to repeatedly pull Jodar down, she gradually gained control of the rallies and leveled the set at 5–5.

The opening set lasted for over an hour and ultimately proved to be the turning point of the competition.

After avoiding danger, Zverev dominated the tiebreak before maintaining that momentum throughout the remainder of the match.

The heavy weight of the German’s shot began to weaken Jodar. The Spaniard repeatedly found himself running down both wings and struggled to time the ball consistently from the baseline.

After losing from a position to win the opening set, Jodar’s resistance faded. Zverev won the second set 6–1 and maintained complete control in the third set, winning in two hours and 29 minutes.

Zverev will next face Czech teenager Jakub Mencic or rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca for a place in the French Open final.

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