close
close

Alexander Zverev beats Holger Rune and reaches the final with Hugo Humbert – Firstpost

Posted on by Bobb
Alexander Zverev beats Holger Rune and reaches the final with Hugo Humbert – Firstpost

Zverev previously reached the final in Paris in 2020 but lost in three sets to Daniil Medvedev. For 2022 champion Rune, the defeat ended his outside hopes of reaching the ATP Finals in Turin.

read more

Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat Holger Rune in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters on Saturday to book his place in the final, where he will meet France’s Hugo Humbert. Zverev’s 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory over the Dane sent the 27-year-old into his second ATP 1000 final of the season after winning in Rome in May.

World number 18 Humbert,
who defeated world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the last 16 matchesbeat Russian Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-3 after the 2018 Paris champion suffered a hip injury in the final set.

“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself, but he (Rune) is a champion,” Zverev said. “This is probably his favorite tournament and favorite venue, but I’m happy to be here in my second final.”

Zverev previously reached the final in Paris in 2020 but lost in three sets to Daniil Medvedev. For 2022 champion Rune, the defeat ends his outside hopes of reaching the ATP Finals in Turin, which runs from November 10-17.

Zverev, who was 198cm tall, relied on his strong first serve and speed at the Paris Bercy Arena to help him serve. Rune, on the other hand, regularly misfired his first serve and under-performed his groundstrokes to give the German a 3-1 lead in the first set.

The next game saw the 21-year-old take the lead to 15-40 but was again let down by a backhand effort as he fired two long-range shots and attempted a pass wide of goal as Zverev recovered and consolidated.

Alexander Zverev writes a script for change

Despite a 4-1 lead, the 2024 French Open final was also unconvincing from the baseline as unforced errors piled up for both players. However, Zverev could always count on his serve to carry him through the first set.

Neither Rune nor Zverev struggled on serve early in the second set, and both held Love or 15 until the seventh game. At 3-3, Zverev surged ahead for a 40-0 lead and broke Rune with a powerful inside-out forehand that allowed him to finish easily in front of the net.

The third seed now seemed to be in complete control of the match and sealed the break by pinning Love. But the resilient Rune exceeded expectations by suddenly breaking Zverev as the German served for the match.

As the pressure mounted, both responded by raising their level and winners came out of both racquets, with Rune eventually pulling off a thrilling 5-5 game that lasted 17 minutes.

Zverev then confidently set up a tiebreaker. Errors crept into Rune’s game again and Zverev received an early mini-break, which he defended and secured his place in the final.

“Amazing” for Humbert

In the second semi-final of the day, France’s Humbert traded early breaks of serve with Khachanov as both players made a nervous start in front of a packed fan crowd.

The decisive moment of the set appeared to have arrived when the 26-year-old Frenchman hit three poor shots at 4-4, giving Khachanov the chance to serve the opener.