Alexander Zverev prevailed against Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in a Monte Carlo Masters 2022 classic to reach the semifinals of the clay-court season opener on Friday. (More Tennis News)
Sinner overcame an early break to win the first set, and Zverev repaid the favour in the second. Zverev fought back twice from a break down in the third set and had to force the quarterfinal to a tiebreaker.
In a match with 10 service breaks, half of the tiebreaker points went against serve, and Zverev finally won after more than three hours when Sinner netted. Second-seeded Zverev will meet defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals on Saturday.
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Tsitispas overcame Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4. The fifth-ranked Greek breezed through the first set, but squandered a 5-2 lead in the second. He had to claw back from 4-0 down in the decider to serve out the match in just under three hours.
“I think I let go,” Tsitsipas said of the missed opportunity to win in straight sets. There was a moment in the match where I felt like what I was trying to do out on the court wasn’t really working. I wanted to stay as long as possible on court. I loosened up a little bit and focused on shot after shot ... that worked out very well.”
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Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, knocked out Taylor Fritz of the USA 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Davidovich Fokina broke the 10th seed at 3-3 in the decider to line up his first semifinal in a masters event with Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
“I am enjoying every point,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I stayed focused and believed in myself.” Dimitrov edged Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2). The unseeded Bulgarian dropped two match points in the deciding set before taking it in a tiebreaker.
“I didn’t really want to focus much on if I’m going to win or lose, because it’s not always the best thing,” Dimitrov said. “I was seeing quite a few cracks in the way he was attacking the ball, especially in the tiebreak.”
