Alexander Zverev to meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo semi-finals after pair survive quarter-final scares | Tennis News

Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, reached his first Masters semi-final by beating American Taylor Fritz 2-6 6-4 6-3; he will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s other semi after he edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 7-6

Alexander Zverev came back from one set down to beat Jannik Sinner and reach the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals

Alexander Zverev survived a first-set blip to break Jannik Sinner’s resilience and reach the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters with an epic 5-7 6-3 7-6 victory on Friday.

Sinner overcame an early break to win the first set, and Zverev repaid the favour in the second. Zverev then fought back twice from a break down in the third set as it went to a tiebreaker, which he ultimately won 7-5.

Second-seeded Zverev will now meet defending-champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals on Saturday after the fifth-ranked Greek overcame Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas won six games in a row to close out the third set and clinch a semi-final spot

Tsitsipas breezed through the first set, but squandered a 5-2 lead in the second. He then had to claw back from 4-0 down in the decider, winning six games on the trot as he eventually served out the match.

Zverev was handed a suspended eight-week ban from ATP-sanctioned events last month after being thrown out of the Acapulco Open for repeatedly hitting the umpire’s chair with his racket at the end of a doubles match.

Zverev, quoted by the ATP Tour website, said: “It means a lot, definitely, especially (with) how this year has been going so far for me. I’ve lost long matches like that, so I’m happy I won this one.”

Earlier, Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, reached his first Masters semi-final by beating American Taylor Fritz 2-6 6-4 6-3.

He will take on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s other semi after he edged past Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. The unseeded Bulgarian dropped two match points in the deciding set before taking it 7-2 in a tiebreaker.

Elsewhere, Brits Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury both progressed to the men’s doubles semi-finals with their respective partners.

Murray and India’s Rohan Bopanna beat third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (8) 7-6 (8) to set up a last-four clash with top seeds Salisbury and America’s Rajeev Ram, who won 6-4 6-3 against Tim Puetz and Michael Venus.

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