Germany's Alexander Zverev is the highest ranked player left in the men’s draw at the ongoing edition of the French Open. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Alexander Zverev continued his quest for a maiden Grand Slam ​title as he recovered from a shaky start ‌to brush aside Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar ​7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 and reach the ⁠French Open semifinals on Tuesday.

The German second seed, who has a golden chance of finally claiming a Major ‌title in the absence of the injured Carlos Alcaraz and with both world ‌number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand ‌Slam ⁠winner Novak Djokovic eliminated, rallied back ⁠from a break down in the opening set to book his place in the last four at Roland Garros ​for the fifth time ‌in the last six years.

He will next face Czech Jakub Mensik or Brazil’s Joao Fonseca for a place in the final.

Asked if ‌he was happy to be in the ​semifinals again, Zverev made clear he was looking beyond the last four.

“Not really, ⁠I don’t really care. I want to keep going, be in the tournament and win the ‌matches ahead of me, that’s my goal,” he said.

“It was a very tough test against a very good player.”

The beginning of the match between the seasoned Zverev and the much-hyped Jodar lived up to its billing with ‌the 19-year-old Spaniard breaking for 4-2.

Zverev, however, kept his ​composure and worked his way back into the contest, playing a succession of crosscourt ⁠backhands to pull his opponent wide. He levelled ⁠for 5-5 and powered away in a one-sided tiebreak.

The loss of the opening set ‌was too much to handle for Jodar, who faded away and never got a ​chance to threaten a comeback.

Published on Jun 02, 2026