Alexander Zverev goes into tonight’s French Open semi-final having settled his court case over allegations of assault against an ex-girlfriend.
The case has overshadowed his participation at Roland Garros this year, despite him denying any wrongdoing.
The trial had been set to resume at 9am local time in Germany, before both parties reached an out-of-court settlement.
The case was settled without any admission of guilt by Zverev, who had been accused of strangling his ex at a Berlin apartment in May 2020, which he has always denied.
It is the German’s fourth straight Roland Garros semi-final and he faces last year’s tournament runner-up Casper Ruud in his quest to make his first final in Paris.
Such is the hype of Carlos Alcaraz’s meeting with Jannik Sinner, the second French Open semi-final has become something of an afterthought.
“I want to be in the finals,” said Zverev ahead of his last-four encounter. “That’s my main focus. Casper is a great player. I have to play my best tennis.”
For Ruud, a finalist at Roland Garros for the past two seasons, it is bizarrely his first time playing since Monday, when he beat Taylor Fritz in four sets in the fourth round.
Since then, he has been the grateful recipient of a walkover against Novak Djokovic in what would have been a repeat of last year’s final had the Serb not needed knee surgery.
Ruud, one of the form men on clay this season with title wins in Barcelona and Geneva, has made no secret of his tactic against Zverev — simply to grind him down.
“The goal is not necessarily to play three perfect sets every time,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to think, ‘Okay, I won’t play perfect but I’m going to be a tough player to beat’.
“That’s the kind of mentality that has been working for me. I know if the opponents want to beat me, they’re going to have to play really good tennis.”
