Hamburg native Alexander Zverev is now part of an exclusive club in men’s tennis. A major challenge awaits him in the Indian Wells semifinals. He’s in top form, and he’s secured his first-ever semifinal berth—but now tennis star Alexander Zverev faces his biggest test yet at the ATP Masters in Indian Wells.
“It’s always a challenge. He’s one of the two best players of the last two years—he and Carlos have won all the Grand Slams,” said the Hamburg native ahead of his semifinal match against Italy’s world No. 2 Jannik Sinner on Saturday (Sky).
Zverev Reaches Milestone
By reaching the final four for the first time at the 1000-point tournament in California, Zverev has added another milestone to his career: He has now reached at least the semifinals at all nine Masters events.
“It’s very special to be one of only five players in history to achieve this. I’m very proud of it, and it’s great to have achieved this in my career,” said a delighted Zverev, who now belongs to a very illustrious group. Previously, only Grand Slam record-holder Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray had accomplished this feat.
Despite the difficulty of the task, Zverev is looking forward to his match against Sinner. “The last few matches were very close, except for the one in Paris, where I was injured,” he said. The 28-year-old, referring to his 0-6, 1-6 loss at the Paris Indoor Masters, has a decent 4-6 record against Sinner—though the four-time Grand Slam champion from South Tyrol has won all five of their most recent matches. Most recently, Sinner won 6-4, 6-3 at the ATP Finals in Turin last fall.
But the Italian also expects “a tough match” on Saturday. “We know each other very well. I have to be very careful. I’ve watched a few matches and he’s playing great tennis,” Sinner warned ahead of his match against Zverev: “In the semifinals of a major tournament, the stage gets bigger and bigger, so I’m really excited to be here.”