Zverev hopes to be fourth time lucky in French Open semifinals

Alexander Zverev is looking forward to reaching his first French Open final after advancing to his fourth successive semifinal in Paris with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Australian 11th seed Alex de Minaur on Wednesday.

Fourth seed Zverev will play Casper Ruud for a place in Sunday's final after the Norwegian received a walkover following Novak Djokovic's injury-enforced withdrawal.

Germany's Zverev is on an 11-match winning streak after clinching the Rome title last month, but he has never reached the final at Roland Garros.

"I'm happy to be in another semifinal. Hopefully I can win one," said Zverev, who defeated 14-time champion Rafael Nadal in the first round of this year's tournament.

Zverev was defeated by Ruud in straight sets in the semifinals of the French Open in 2023.

After needing five sets in each of his previous two rounds, Zverev polished off De Minaur inside three hours.

He saved a set point on his serve at 5-6 in the second set and then won a 39-shot rally to bring up one of his own in the tie-break, which he sealed at the first opportunity.

"Everybody in the press keeps asking me what I do for recovery and the answer is very simple -- you don't recover after matches, you recover in the off-season," said Zverev.

"I have the mindset you have to work harder than everyone else to be the best player. I like to work to my absolute limit. If I do that then playing five sets all of a sudden is not that difficult."

A serious ankle injury dashed Zverev's hopes in his 2022 semifinal against Nadal as he was forced to retire.

The year before he lost at the same stage in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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