Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals at the ATP tournament in Monte Carlo after a big fight.
The 24-year-old defeated Jannik Sinner from Italy 5: 7, 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 5) in a heated atmosphere on Friday and can still hope for his first tournament win of the year.
After 3:07 hours, Zverev converted his first match point in a duel between two battered players, in the meantime the Hamburg player hit from below.
“It means a lot to me, especially how this year has gone for me so far.
I lost a lot of these games," Zverev said of his victory.
"That's in the back of my mind, this win will definitely help me." In the meantime, he had to be treated on his right thigh.
"We have to see," said Zverev about the further effects.
Zverev now against Tsitsipas
After the early exit of world number one Novak Djokovic, Zverev is the highest-ranked professional in the Masters 1000 clay court tournament, which is worth around 5.2 million euros.
In the round of the top four, he meets Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.
So far this season, Zverev has been in the Montpellier final.
The best German tennis player got off to a better start against Sinner, was quickly 4:1 ahead and dominated with powerful attacking play.
Cheered on by the majority of fans on Court Rainier III, Sinner fought back and won the first set.
The rhythm at Zverev was initially gone.
However, the Hamburger immediately compensated for the loss of serve to 1: 2 and had himself treated for a longer time at the score of 3: 2.
Sinner struggled with a blister on his big toe.
At first, both players hardly noticed their injuries, and Zverev won the second set at a high level.
The third in the world rankings seemed to be in control.
When he served from below, the audience booed him.
Zverev was ahead twice with a break, Sinner didn't give up.
The tie-break also remained tight, a backhand mistake by Sinner made Zverev's success perfect.