Alexander Zverev joked he was ‘s****ing his pants’ before sealing a victory over teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open quarter-finals. The German secured a win over a top 10 player at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career and now faces the daunting task of battling Rafael Nadal in the last four.
The world number three produced arguably his greatest performance on a clay court, which was needed to defeat the young Spaniard who has been in red-hot form. Following his 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7) victory, Zverev used an expletive when describing how he felt trying to achieve something for the very first time.
"S***ing my pants," he chuckled. “At the end of the day I knew that I had to play my absolute best tennis today from the start on and I’m happy that I did that. Obviously he kept on coming back, he’s an incredible player. I told him at the net ‘you’re gonna win this tournament a lot of times not only once.' I just hope I can win it before he does.”
The German stayed aggressive throughout the encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier, dominating the early baseline exchanges and frequently reading the Alcaraz drop shot to open up a two-set lead. The 19-year-old channelled the support of a raucous crowd to raise his game and claim the third set, but Zverev’s big serve proved crucial in snuffing out the Spaniard’s comeback.
A fourth-set tie-break full of exhilarating shotmaking saw Zverev save a set point at 5-6 before letting slip a first match point after netting a backhand at 7-6. He made no mistake the second time around at 8-7, crashing a scorching return backhand winner down the line to seal a huge win.
When asked about the incredible shot that won him the match, Zverev said: “It is one shot that I like to do. I have done it a lot in my career. I had to win the match myself. I feel like you're either going to miss it by a country mile or going to hit a winner. So, I hit a winner, which I'm quite pleased about.
"I’m extremely happy that I won the tie-break and didn’t have to play a five-set match and be disappointed after a five-set match again like I was last year after the semi-finals.” The 25-year-old was full of praise for the world number six, who impressed in his very first appearance at the French Open.
“I think Carlos is one of the best players in the world right now,” Zverev gushed. “It seems quite impossible to beat him. But I knew that I had to play my absolute best from the first point on.
“Letting him go ahead in the match, letting him get the confidence was going to be a very difficult thing for me to come back from. In the end I'm happy that I won in four sets and didn't have to go to a fifth set.”
