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Alexander Zverev is about to win the third consecutive tournament. After his two titles in Cologne, the 23-year-old dominated the semi-finals of the Paris Masters in a 6: 4, 7: 5 against Rafael Nadal for long stretches. It was only the second victory for Zverev in the seventh duel between the two. After the defeat, Nadal must wait for the first tournament victory at the Paris Masters. It is one of the few major tournaments that hasn’t won.
“I thought it was a very good match,” Zverev said after the match. “It’s never easy against Rafa, to have a chance against him you have to play at a high level, I did it today.”
Zverev started the match with the confidence of two tournament wins and eleven games in a row. The German won most of the baseline duels at the start and brought Nadal’s second serve game to zero. On Nadal’s next serve it was 0:30 from the Spaniard’s point of view, but he got out of the situation with four good serves.
A high service rate leaves Nadal no way out
But the service worked much better in Zverev. When he served, Nadal didn’t stand a chance in the first set. Zverev, who took nearly 80 percent of his first beats onto the pitch and then scored nearly 90 percent of the point, didn’t have to dismiss a single break in the first set.
The 23-year-old also managed to take an early break in the second round. However, in the middle of the sentence he lost his sovereignty in service. At 3: 2, Zverev was able to fend off two break points with good serves, including a second on the line. But he had to deliver the next serve to Nadal. The game was in danger of overturning until Zverev managed to get another break, this time decisive, on the score of 5: 5.
In Sunday’s final, Zverev will meet Russian Daniil Medvedev, who got the better of Canadian Milos Raonic 6: 4, 7: 6.
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