Matching Report
Zverev sinks Rune to reach Paris final
Germany is chasing a seventh Masters 1000 title
November 02, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Alexander Zverev plays on Saturday in Paris.
Written by Sam Jacot
Alexander Zverev reached his first hard-court final of the season on Saturday at the Rolex Paris Masters, defeating former champion Holger Rune to end Dane Nitto’s ATP Finals hopes.
Germany recovered from a 5-4 deficit in the second set, resisted Rune’s long fight and finally won 6-3, 7-6(4) after one hour and 47 minutes.
With his 65th win of the season, Zverev tied with Jannik Sinner for the most victories on Tour in 2024, while moving up one spot to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, overtaking Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev is the finalist in Paris, losing in the 2020 title match to Daniil Medvedev. The 27-year-old is chasing his seventh ATP Masters 1000 crown and first hard-court trophy above the ATP 250 level since winning the Nitto ATP Finals in 2021.
Zverev, who will compete at the prestigious year-end event in Turin, which runs from November 10-17, will meet French star Ugo Humbert or former champion Karen Khachanov in the final in Paris on Sunday.
Zverev led Rune 5-3 in the second set and looked determined to win on Court Central, having won big times. However, Rune held serve and broke Zverev’s serve for the first time in the match as they trailed at 4-5. The Dane then held a 12-minute big game but Zverev refused to fade away. The German, who won 84 percent (37/44) of his first match points according to Infosys ATP Stats, forced a break and increased the aggression and intensity in the closing sets to advance.
Rune won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Paris two years ago when he beat Novak Djokovic in the title match. The Dane needed to lift the trophy in the French capital once again to keep alive his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Zverev, who has reached 12 ATP Masters 1000 finals, leads Rune 3-1 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the 21-year-old at Roland Garros and Montreal earlier this season.
More to follow…
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