Alex de Minaur vs Alexander Zverev, French Open semi-final live: Follow the action from Roland Garros
Alex de Minaur’s French Open run has come to a painful end against Alexander Zverev, with the world no.4 taking out the Australian in brutal fashion.
Alex de Minaur’s golden run at the French Open has come to an end, with the Australian losing in straight set to German world no.4 Alexander Zverev.
De Minaur was left to rue a huge missed opportunity in the second set, blowing a 4-0 lead in the tie break after looking in the ascendancy throughout the back half of the set.
Zverev advances to his fourth successive French Open semi-final after a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win and will play Casper Ruud for a place in Sunday’s final after the Norwegian received a walkover following Novak Djokovic’s injury-enforced withdrawal.
Germany’s Zverev is on an 11-match winning streak after clinching the Rome title last month, but he has never reached the final at Roland Garros.
“I’m happy to be in another semi-final. Hopefully I can win one,” said Zverev, who defeated 14-time champion Rafael Nadal in the first round of this year’s tournament.
Zverev was defeated by Ruud in straight sets in the semi-finals of the French Open in 2023.
After needing five sets in each of his previous two rounds, Zverev polished off De Minaur inside three hours.
He saved a set point on his serve at 5-6 in the second set and then won a 39-shot rally to bring up one of his own in the tie-break, which he sealed at the first opportunity.
“Everybody in the press keeps asking me what I do for recovery and the answer is very simple -- you don’t recover after matches, you recover in the off-season,” said Zverev.
“I have the mindset you have to work harder than everyone else to be the best player. I like to work to my absolute limit. If I do that then playing five sets all of a sudden is not that difficult.”
A serious ankle injury dashed Zverev’s hopes in his 2022 semi-final against Nadal as he was forced to retire.
The year before he lost at the same stage in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Zverev is playing under the shadow of an ongoing trial in Berlin over allegations of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
De Minaur’s bid to make a first Grand Slam semi-final ended with an eighth defeat in 10 meetings with Zverev.
“I’m extremely proud of my efforts through the two weeks. Even today I think I put up a hell of a fight in difficult conditions against a quality opponent,” said De Minaur, playing just his second quarter-final at a major.
De Minaur rued letting slip a 4-0 lead in the tie-break in the second set as his hopes of becoming the first Australian man to make the last four in Paris since Pat Rafter in 1997 fizzled out.
“I had my opportunities. Should have probably taken the second set and I think we would have been in for a proper battle. I left my heart out there, I did everything I could. It wasn’t good enough.”
Follow the action in our live blog below! All times AEST
7:32AM – GAME, SET, MATCH
That’s all she wrote for Alex de Minaur. After opening the door by breaking back, his French Open run finally comes to an end as Zverev breaks serve himself to secure a date with Casper Rudd.
7:24 – DE MINAUR HOPES STILL ALIVE, BUT ONLY JUST 5-4
With this tie looking all but over, de Minaur digs deep to break back against Zverev. Trailing 30-love, he finds the reserve to fight back to take the game. He’s got a long way to go from here, but he’s woken up the crowd again. Serving to stay in the match.
7:08AM – DE MINAUR IN SERIOUS TROUBLE – 4-2
Alex is staring at the abyss now after being broken in the third set. A double fault at 15-40 hands Zverev what felt like a vey easy break of serve. Down two sets and a break, the Australian has a mountain to climb from here.
6:59AM – DE MINAUR STAYING ALIVE, 2-2
For a moment it looked like the wheels were coming off for de Minaur. Up 40-love, he suddenly finds himself fighting to hold his serve and just about manages to after another lengthy rally.
6:49AM – ALL QUIET IN THE THIRD – 1-1
It’s a game each in the third set but the air seems to have been sucked out of the room at Roland Garros with the two men each holding fairly regulation service games.
De Minaur biding his time after an energy and morale draining tie break.
6:38AM – DEMON BLOWS 4-0 LEAD TO HAND ZVEREV SECOND SET
After going 4-0 up in the tie break, de Minaur slices meekly into the net to open the door for Zverev who goes on a three-point run to put the pressure back on the Australian’s serve. De Minaur holds the first, but loses the second – his game is just starting to tighten up – and Zverev holds serve to take a 6-5 lead. The second hold was particularly impressive, a lengthy, cagey rally that went 39 shots with neither man ready to pull the trigger before de Minaur slices wide. De Minaur goes long on the next rally off his serve and from 4-0 down, Zverev takes the second set.
6:26AM – WE’RE GOING TO A TIE BREAK
We’re going to a tie-breaker. De Minaur has the crowd up on their feet as he holds serve, coming out on top in a couple of big rallies, but Zverev eases to a 30-love lead quickly. A smashed forehand wide of the court open the door for de Minaur, but he follows up with an unforced error of his own to puts Zverev back on track. But the Aussie’s not giving up on his chance of taking the set, and a rally and unforced error later we’re at deuce. A fault on his first serve opens up an opportunity for de Minaur and he takes it, moving Zverev left and right before tempting him up the court to land a delightful lob that gives him a chance to break. Another long rally but this time it’s the German who comes out on top and we’re back at deuce. Another long rally, and this time around de Minaur catches the net to hand Zverev the advantage, but the German misses a big first serve, opening the door for de Minaur to dictate things on second serve and again we’re back on deuce. Zverev takes the advantage, gets in an a small argument with the chair umpire, and then finally finishes off a near-10-minute game.
6:09AM: DE MINAUR A GAME AWAY FROM TAKING THE SET – 5-5.
Alex de Minaur pulls out his first ace of the night and is a game away from taking the second set. He takes the first point of Zverev’s service game and, in his first show of real emotion, indulges in a fist pump to a crowd that has favoured him so far. The Australian has been excellent on the German’s second serve. Alas, he fails to win another point and the pressure is back on his serve.
5:52AM: CROWD ROARS AS DEMON FIGHTS BACK – 3-3
And just like that the second set is back on serve. Looking to shorten points on his own serve, de Minaur looks happy to fight through rallies on the German’s, and earns a couple of unforced errors to suddenly have a chance at a break point. The Roland Garros crowds roars their approval, and a double-fault hands him the game.
5:45AM: DE MINAUR IN TROUBLE IN THE SECOND – 3-2
There’s looked a concerted effort from de Minaur in the second set to shorten the points on his serve, with the Aussie regularly advancing up the court. It’s backfired in the fifth game of the second set, with a couple of unforced errors handing the game to Zverev. The German looks to be firmly in the ascendancy now.
5:34AM: ZVEREV AIRS HIS FRUSTRATIONS – 2-1
He’s up a set and we’re still on serve in the second, but Zverev is unhappy with something as de Minaur holds his serve rather routinely. A missed forehand at 15-15 saw him venting to his box and he’s even unhappier by the end of the game.
5:22AM: 6-4, ZVEREV TAKES THE FIRST
Despite a fantastic rally to take a 0-30 lead, de Minaur fails to break back against Zverev and the German has taken the first set, overpowering the Aussie with his big serve. Far from ideal for de Minaur but it’s worth remembering he won each of his past two matches in four sets after losing the first.
5:15AM: ‘LET’S GO’ – 5-3
“Let’s go!” Zverev exclaims as he holds serve to take a 5-3 lead in the first set. The world No.4 eased his way to three break points and while he can’t seal the deal the first time around, a double fault from de Minaur soon gifts him the game. The Australian immediately puts Zverev under pressure in the following game, taking a 0-30 lead but can’t capitalise, making a run of errors before an ace down the middle.
5AM: ONE BREAK EACH – 2-2
It’s been a fast start at Roland Garros with a break each way.
De Minaur had the chance to break Zverev on his first service game only for the German to hold serve before breaking the Aussie in the next game.
Any concerns over a deflation from there quickly dissipated as de Minaur broke back immediately.
‘He’s so fast’: Speed key to de Minaur’s French Open success
Can Alex de Minaur’s wheels negate the power of German big-hitter Alexander Zverev?
That is the challenge facing Australia’s leading tennis star as the world No. 11 prepares for his greatest chance at grand slam success in the quarter-finals of the French Open on Thursday morning (AEST).
With world No. 1 Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the tournament due to a knee injury, de Minaur suddenly has an achievable path to his maiden grand slam final with the winner of this quarter-final to face Casper Ruud in the semi-finals.
It is the first time since the US Open in 2020 that de Minaur has reached the final eight stage but his rival Zverev has lost at the semi-final stage the past three years straight in Paris including last year to Ruud.
Zverev holds a 7-2 career advantage over de Minaur and the Aussie lost their only clay court meeting in Rome in 2022 in straight sets.
Despite being the clear outsider, Swedish great Mats Wilander can see a path to grand slam success for de Minaur.
If not now in Paris, certainly in the near future as he makes consistent small improvements to his game.
“It’s no surprise to me he’s in the quarters,” Wilander told reporters at Roland Garros.
“Alex is unbelievable, his legs are stronger every time I see him. He’s a player who improves by the smallest margins, but he’s always improving.
“It’s said he doesn’t have the weapons, but nor did Lleyton Hewitt, and nor did I, honestly.
“If you’re humble enough to know and understand that you can’t outhit the big hitters — for me, I couldn’t outhit (Boris) Becker or (Ivan) Lendl — then you’ve gotta do something different. Alex is learning this, it looks like to me.
“But I still think there’s more to come because he’s so fast — and if he learns to be fast at the right time on the right ball, there’s even more improvement. Lleyton did that at times too.
“I think there’s not really a limit for Alex in a way, because for him, knowledge of his opponent and knowledge of his own limitations will make him a better tactician, just like it was for Lleyton.
“The Australian Open (is his best chance) probably because it’s the fastest hard court.”
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