The French Open champion had to go to two tiebreaks against underdog Collignon but kept his cool.
Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals at the tennis tournament in Halle/Westphalia in a nail-biter and can still hope for the first grass-court title of his career. The French Open champion kept his cool against Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon and won 7-6 (12-10), 7-6 (7-2). With temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, Zverev converted his second match point after two hours.
On Saturday, the 29-year-old faces his biggest challenge yet in his preparations for Wimbledon (starting June 29). In the battle to reach the final of the Terra Wortmann Open—a stage Zverev had already reached in 2016 and 2017—he will face American pro Taylor Fritz, against whom he hasn’t looked particularly strong in recent matches. Zverev has been waiting for a win for two years, having lost six times in a row.
Fritz even needed 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach the semifinals on Friday in the midday heat of East Westphalia. In another tiebreak thriller without a single break, he defeated his compatriot Ben Shelton 6–7 (5–7), 7–6 (10–8), 7–6 (7–3). He saved a match point but ultimately advanced deservedly thanks to 24 aces.
Zverev Shows Patience
Zverev also had to go to a tiebreak early on after squandering two break points in the first game of the match. There, he saved three set points against the hard-serving underdog and kept his composure. Zverev also had to show patience in the second set; once again, he and Collignon held all their service games, but in the tiebreak, the Hamburg native showed his class.