Quarter-finals: Revenge is sweet for Zverev

As if that head-to-head record was not hard enough to deal with, Alexander Zverev had lost 13 of their 15 matches since 2020, the first of that run being in the Rolex Paris Masters final in 2020. But, this time, Zverev stood tall, hung on and just edged their two-and-a-half hour wrestling match 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). He saved two match points; he had to survive a nail-biting final-set tiebreak but he won and now faces Jannik Sinner for a place in the final.

“I felt like in the beginning, I was playing very well but I was playing very stupid tactically,” Zverev said with a smile. “I felt like I could turn the match around because I was feeling well with my shots but I was playing, in my opinion, very, very dumb and I changed a few things and kind of broke back [in the second set] and all of a sudden, the match turned very quickly. But the thing I’m most pleased about is the match points saved and the way I continued being brave in the important moments and winning the match myself.”

Slaying the dragon

Zverev was passive in the first set, more aggressive in the second and then, in the third set, the match was on a knife edge. Zverev broke for 2-1; Medvedev broke straight back. Medvedev had his two match points in the 10th game. Zverev survived.

The rallies were becoming longer and more physical but neither man let up. And then, in the tiebreak, the world No.3 pulled rank. He had finally beaten his nemesis.

“Daniil is kind of like my Kryptonite,” Zverev said. “I don’t like playing him. He is somebody who has had my number for the last couple of years. I’m very pleased with the win.”