Alexander Zverev (4th ATP) adds a new chapter to his great 2024 and manages to return to a Grand Slam final after four years. He will do it on the clay of Roland Garros, a tournament where he had been eliminated in the semifinals the last three seasons.
In the round of the four best, he defeated the Norwegian Casper Ruud (7th), who had been a finalist in 2022 and 2023, by 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 and 6-2. A match that started with problems for the German, but after his rival had stomach problems, he managed to dominate without problems. Aided by a great serve, he was now just one match away from winning his first Grand Slam, a title that has eluded him on numerous occasions.
Of course, only once in his career did he reach a final in one of the big four. It was at the 2020 US Open, when he lost to Dominic Thiem after having won the first two sets. On five other occasions, he has been eliminated from a Grand Slam. Apart from the three at Roland Garros, he has one in New York and another in the 2024 edition of the Australian Open.
The victory against Ruud also comes on the same day that a German court filed a case against him for domestic violence. One of his ex-partners accused him of having strangled her and although the player had initially been sentenced with a fine of 450,000 euros, he chose to appeal the ruling. Now, he will only have to pay 200,000 euros to end the process.
This Sunday the final will pit him against Carlos Alcaraz, who has just defeated Jannik Sinner in a five-set match that lasted more than four hours of play. At the moment, the head-to-head between the two is 5-4 in favor of the German, who defeated him last year in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.
