Alexander Zverev is through to his first hardcourt Masters final in over three years after beating Holger Rune in Paris on Saturday.
The world No.3 powered his way to a 6-3, 7-6(4), win over former champion Rune who had won 12 out of his last 13 matches played at the tournament. Zverev dictated proceedings with the help of 25 winners and won 83% of his first service points. He has now won 65 matches this season which is the same amount as world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
Throughout the match, Zverev looked to be cruising towards victory after breaking Rune once in each set for a 6-4, 5-4, lead. However, he suffered a blip when serving the match out after hitting a forehand error and then a volley into the net to drop serve for the first time. The German managed to regroup in the tiebreaker where he won five out of the first seven points played before a Rune forehand mistake handed him a trio of match points. He converted his second by hitting a winning backhand volley.
“I feel like I made it difficult for myself a little bit,” Zverev said of his latest performance afterwards.
“I mean, look, he’s (Rune) a champion here. He knows how to play. This is probably his favorite tournament. His favorite court.
“I’m happy to be in my second final here. Second final in Paris also this year (after the French Open). So I’m definitelylooking forward to that.”
Zverev’s Paris run has moved him into the final of an ATP hardcourt event above 250 level for the first time since 2021. Coincidentally, 2021 was also the last year when reached a Masters 1000 final on this surface.
Awaiting him in the final will be either Karen Khachanov or Ugo Humbert. He leads Khachanov 5-2 in their head-to-head but against Humbert, they are tied at 1-1.
“At the end of the day, we have nine masters a year, you know, so we have to get used to playing these kind of matches,” Zverev replied when asked about playing in Bercy for the last time before the event is moved to the La Défense Arena next year.
“Of course, it’s always exciting. It’s always something special to play for, titles like that.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow for sure.”
As a result of his triumph, Zverev will overtake Carlos Alcaraz in the PIF ATP rankings on Monday and move into second place which equals his career-best ranking. Meanwhile, Rune now has no chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals as a result of his latest defeat.
Zverev is bidding to win his 23rd ATP title and his seventh at Masters level.
