Germany’s Alexander Zverev outserved Holger Rune in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters on Saturday to book his place in the final for the first time since losing to Daniil Medvedev in 2020.
Zverev’s 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win against the Dane sent the 27-year-old to his second ATP 1000-level final of the season — after his victory in Rome in May.
World number three Zverev will face either Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who downed world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the last 16, or Russia’s Karen Khachanov in Sunday’s showpiece.
“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself but he (Rune) is a champion,” said Zverev.
“It is probably his favourite tournament and favourite court, but I am happy to be in my second final here.”
For 2022 champion Rune, the loss put an end to his outside hopes of reaching the ATP Finals in Turin, which run from November 10-17.
– ‘Upping their level’ —
Zverev put pressure on Rune right from his first service game with the Dane eventually holding after two deuces.
Zverev, standing at 198cm, relied on his big first serve and the speed of the surface at Paris’ Bercy Arena to carry him through his service games.
Rune, on the other hand, misfired regularly on his first serve and lacked fluency with his groundstrokes as two consecutive framed shots off his forehand and backhand at deuce gave the German a 3-1 lead.
The 21-year-old suddenly raced to 15-40 in the next game but was again let down by his backhand as he sent two shots long and an attempted pass wide as Zverev recovered to consolidate.
Despite leading 4-1, the 2024 French Open runner-up was also unconvincing from behind the baseline as the unforced errors accumulated for both players.
However, Zverev could always rely on his serving to carry him through as he claimed the first set.
Neither Rune nor Zverev challenged on serve at the beginning of the second set, with both holding to love or 15 until the seventh game.
At 3-3, Zverev pounced to take a 0-40 lead and he broke Rune with a powerful inside-out forehand that set him up to finish easily at the net.
The third seed now seemed in total control of the match and consolidated the break with a hold to love.
But the resilient Rune defied expectation by suddenly breaking Zverev when the German was serving for the match.
As the pressure mounted, both responded by upping their level from the open court and winners flew off both rackets as Rune eventually held a gripping game at 5-5, which had lasted 17 minutes.
Zverev then served out comfortably to set up a tiebreak.
Errors again crept into Rune’s play and Zverev got an early mini-break, which he defended to book his spot in the final despite a superb passing shot on the run by the Dane to save a first match point.
In the day’s second semi-final, home hope Humbert bids to reach his first championship match at a Masters event, but to do so must overcome 2018 Paris winner Khachanov.