Paris: Austrian Dominic Thiem destroyed a lacklustre and battle-weary Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 here, Tuesday to reach the French Open semifinals for the third consecutive year.
In the women’s segment, Americans Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens set up a rematch of last year’s US Open finals by sealing last fourth berths. Keys put up a solid display of baseline hitting to beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6(7-5), 6-4, while Stephens was ruthless in her defeat of Russian Daria Kastkina 6-3, 6-1
It was the men’s match, however, that attracted the maximum attention as both Thiem and Zverev have established their credentials as ‘players of next generation’. Thiem’s relentless accuracy from the baseline proved too much for second seed Zverev who looked jaded after a gruelling path to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
After an even start full of high quality ball striking, Thiem broke serve at 3-3 and quickly got on top, stretching his opponent all over Court Philippe Chatrier. Zverev, 21, needed his left thigh strapped in the second set and looked disconsolate as Thiem widened his advantage with a clinical display of hitting.
Thiem, seeded seventh, needed only 15 minutes to go 4-0 up in the third with Zverev barely running for wide balls. Zverev began to let rip, snatching one game back, but the outcome was inevitable and Thiem put him out of his misery with a routine backhand winner into a wide-open court.
“It was very tough for him today,” Thiem, who fell to eventual winners Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the last two years, said on court. “He is one of the fittest guys on tour but to play three five-setters in a row is tough in Grand Slam. I love it here and I will do everything to make one more step this year.”