The German Alexander Zverev He beat the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters 1,000 (7-5 and 6-4) and thus presented credentials for the title.
The one from Hamburg emerges as the top favorite of those who resist, seeded number 3 and with his victory he took a step forward in the ‘Race’ for the ATP Finals, putting Carlos Alcaraz’s second position at risk. With the Murcian eliminated in the round of 16 by Ugo Humbert, the chances of reaching second place multiply for the German, which would leave him a more favorable draw in the Turin Masters. The duel also meant the definitive dismissal of Tsitsipas, who had a very difficult time qualifying among the eight best of the year.
Zverev will now look for his place in the final against the Danish Holger Rune, winner of the tournament in 2022 and who eliminated the Australian Alex de Miñaur (6-4, 4-6 and 6-4), also immersed in the race for the ATP Finals .
The 27-year-old German, this year’s winner in Rome, will play in his third semi-final in Paris in four years and his thirtieth in a Masters 1,000, the active tennis player who has achieved it the most times after the Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Spanish Rafael Nadal. In front of him he will have a Rune who showed how good he is under the roof of Paris, where in three seasons he has only lost one game.
This Saturday’s semi-final It will be the fourth duel between Zverev and Rune, the third this season in which the German defeated the Dane in the round of 16 at Roland Garros and the Canadian Masters 1,000.
Humbert and Khachanov, to strike
On the other side of the draw, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert, executioner of Alcaraz, and the Russian Karen Khachanov will compete. The Frenchman is the one who is adding spice to a tournament abandoned by the main stars. He has put the public in his pocket and has returned the euphoria to a stand that had not seen a home team this far in the tournament since Julien Benneteau in 2017 and who has not celebrated a victory since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
With the same force with which he defeated Alcaraz in the round of 16, he got rid of the Australian Thompson in the quarterfinals, 6-2 and 7-6(4)to qualify for the first time in his career, at the age of 26, for a semifinal of a Masters 1,000.
Humbert, the big star in Paris / LAP
Current 18th in the world and best Frenchman of the moment, The Frenchman has aroused enormous expectations and has already chained 12 consecutive victories indoors, after having won last year in Metz and this year in Marseille.
His rival will be a Khachanov that has chained 12 games with a single defeat, including the Almaty title and the Vienna final, the last against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, ninth in the world, finalist of the last edition, who fell 6-2 and 6-3 and said goodbye to his last options of finishing among the eight best in the ranking and compete in the Turin Masters.
For the Russian, who lifted the trophy at 22 years old, They will be the fifth semifinals of a Masters 1,000, after those in Toronto and Paris in 2018, Montreal in 2019 and Miami in 2023.
Khachanov and Humbert have only met once, in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympic tournament with the Russian’s victory in three sets.
