Alexander Zverev insisted he’s just focused on his upcoming semi-final rather than being the favourite to win a first major after he laid down a marker at the French Open on Tuesday with a straight-sets victory over Rafael Jodar.
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With the crushing 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win over the 19-year-old Spaniard, Zverev advanced to his fifth Roland Garros semi-final in the last six years.
The second seed is considered the heavy favourite to win his first Grand Slam title following the shock early departures oftop seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic last week in Paris.
Zverev has finished runner-up three times in Grand Slam finals, including at Roland Garros two years ago, and knows the pressure is firmly on him in the French capital as he bids to shake off his unwanted title of tennis’ nearly-man.
“As I said before, I don’t particularly care (about being the favourite),” Zverev told reporters.
“I focus on next match, and I focus on the opponent as they cross the net, and that’s the only thing that I can control.”
His next opponent will be first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist 20-year-old Jakub Mensik.
“Who do I prefer to play? I don’t care at all, to be honest. No, I just don’t care. For me, it doesn’t matter,” the 29-year-old said.
“We have fantastic players that are young on the tour right now, we have a lot of potential on the tour right now. But, again,I have to trust myself, trust my game and focus on my job.” Despite downplaying his propulsion into the position of favourite with the shock results thrown up so far in the tournament, Zverev was forced to admit the elimination of 39-year-old Djokovichad somewhat opened up his route to the final in the bottom half of the draw.
“I feel like the draw opened up a lot on the top half (with Sinner’s exit). I feel like in the bottom half, less,” he said.
“Of course, with Joao Fonseca beating Djokovic, it’s a big match that opened up the draw.
“Everything else is kind of normal-ish on the bottom half. In the top half, of course, it’s different.”
– May the best man win –
Zverev has only dropped one set so far in the tournament but he came close to losing the opener on Court Philippe Chatrierto 27th seed Jodar, before rallying back from 5-2 down to take it in a tie-break.
From that point on, he accelerated smoothly through the next two sets to bring an end to an impressive debut Roland Garroscampaign for the teenager.
Jodar was ranked 707th in the world this time last year, losing in the first and second rounds of second-tier Challenger eventsin the United States during the 2025 French Open.
The Madrid native told reporters after his quarter-final exit that he believed Zverev was the most likely candidate to liftthe Coupe des Mousquetaires on Sunday.
“He’s a great player. He does everything very well. He has a lot of experience. He has been in these kind of stadiums a lotof years, and I think that’s a key that’s very important to face the important and the pressure moments in the match,” Jodarsaid.
“I mean, yes (Zverev is the favourite). He has to win two more matches, so yeah, all the players that are in the semi-finalson Friday have the same chances.
“If they are in semi-finals, it’s because they have done great results. I wish them all the best, and the best player… at the weekend will win the title.”
Kostyuk balances war at home and title run at French Open
An emotional Marta Kostyuk says learning to block out the realities of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become essential during her run to the French Open semi-finals, even as the conflict remains never far from her thoughts.
Kostyuk beat compatriot Elina Svitolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time. It was the first all-Ukrainian quarter-final at a major in the professional era.
The 23-year-old Kostyuk fought back tears on court as she dedicated the win to Ukraine, which was hit by hundreds of Russian drones and dozens of missiles early Tuesday, killing at least 21 people.
“With everything that’s happening, for me being here is real blessing, and I don’t think about winning. It’s not the most important thing for me,” Kostyuk told reporters.
“I’m here to represent Ukraine and to enjoy.”
Kostyuk has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia. She revealed after her opening-round win that her family home narrowly avoided being struck by a missile.
“There is nothing I can do about it, but just follow what’s going on,” she said. Kostyuk explained that she turns off news notifications on her phone during the night to focus as best as she can on tennis.
“I will change absolutely nothing, and I will just not get any sleep,” she said. “If I cannot live without news and not follow them, then I might as well go back to Ukraine and live there, you know, because I’m here, I’m safe, I’m here to do my job. I obviously try to separate these things.”
Kostyuk added: “Of course, when I woke up today, I saw it was all over the news. I texted my family if they were okay. This is pretty much all I can do.
“The biggest thing I can do is sit here and talk about it so more people can find out about it so they don’t get used to this terrible life.”
She also took a swipe at Russian players who remain silent, saying that she no longer accepts the excuse of fearing potential consequences of speaking up.
“There is a way if you don’t agree,”she said. “I know some people who have left Russia the moment the war began, who sold all their business, who left everything behind because they just don’t agree with what their country is doing to other people.
“The majority of players don’t live in Russia.
“There is nothing that’s stopping you if this is something you don’t believe in.
“After four years, I think they’ve made it very clear whose side they are on.”
– ‘Do my job’ –
Kostyuk is enjoying an astonishing run on clay this season, unbeaten in 17 matches and winning titles in Madrid and Rouen.
The ongoing conflict in her homeland will form an unavoidable backdrop as Kostyuk faces Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva for a place in the final on Thursday.
It is also a rematch of last month’s Madrid Open final, which Kostyuk won in straight sets.
“I usually never care who is on the other side of the net. I’m there to play tennis and do my job, and that’s it,” said Kostyuk.
Andreeva is set to compete in her second French Open semi-final, two years after her breakthrough run.
She offered a similar response to Kostyuk’s when asked about the challenges of taking on a Ukrainian opponent during wartime.
“For me it doesn’t matter who I play. I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me,” said Andreeva.
“Usually it doesn’t matter to me who I’m playing against, so I’m trying to really focus on the game and on the game plan that I have to use on the court.” As for Svitolina, who fell at the quarter-final stage at Roland Garros for the sixth time, she will be rooting for Kostyuk to become Ukraine’s first Grand Slam singles champion.
“I will be watching the match and definitely cheering for her hopefully that she can get the title,” said Svitolina.
“I think it’s going to be massive for Ukraine.”
MENSIK TAMES FONSECA TO REACH FRENCH OPEN SEMI-FINALS
Czech youngster Jakub Mensik produced a brilliant display to upstage Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca and reach the French Open semi-finals on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old Mensik beat Fonseca 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier to extend his best run at a Grand Slam.
Mensik, the world number 27, will take on second seed and title favourite Zverev on Friday for a place in the final.
“It was one of my best performances so far,” said Mensik. “I knew it was going to be a tough one. In the end of the match there were some incredible shots.”
It was the youngest Roland Garros men’s quarter-final since a 20-year-old Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in 2006. Djokovic was 19 at the time.
A thrilling third-round win over Djokovic two decades on marked a coming of age for Fonseca, who backed it up with a victory over two-time runner-up Casper Ruud to advance to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
But Mensik, whose best prior result at the majors was an injury-curtailed run to the last 16 at this year’s Australian Open, showed no fear against Fonseca, the 28th seed.
Mensik secured the opening set with a break in the fifth game, repeating the feat at the same stage of the second before breaking once more to surge into a commanding two-set lead.
The Czech was broken at the outset of the third set but quickly hit back. Fonseca edged ahead to lead 5-3, yet Mensik saved a set point and battled his way back on serve.
Fonseca then produced a remarkable escape, saving six match points to force a tie-break, but Mensik finally subdued his stubborn opponent at the seventh time of asking.
STAR SLAPPED WITH HUGE FINE
Roland Garros and the French Tennis Federation on Monday hit Adolfo Daniel Vallejo with a $65,000 fine for his remarks about the woman who umpired his second-round defeat at the French Open.
After he lost to French 17-year-old Moise Kouame in a fifth-set tiebreak on Thursday, Vallejo, a Paraguayan, told tennis website Clay that Brazilian umpire Ana Carvalho had not been strong enough in the face of fansupport for the local player.
“A fine of 65,000 dollars has been imposed, roughly half of his prize money,” tournament director Amelie Mauresmo told a pressbriefing on Monday.
Players eliminated in the second round of the men’s singles receive 130,000 euros ($151,000).
“This is clearly something that is unacceptable to us, to the tournament, and to the Federation even beyond the tournament.This kind of language has no place here,” Mauresmo said.
After losing in a super tie-break after 4 hours and 56 minutes of play, Vallejo complained to tennis magazine Clay.
“This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man. It’s very difficult for a woman to do it,” the 22-year-old said.
“It has to be refereed by a man, because it’s a very demanding crowd and you need a lot of strength to go against the crowd.” After the organisers said on Friday they would fine Vallejo, the world number 71 apologised on social media.
“I have respect for the umpires and for the job they do, after a five-hour battle I was very heated and felt a lot of emotions,I apologize,” Vallejo wrote on Instagram late on Friday.
Vallejo said his comments had been misinterpreted.
“I also want to clarify that I didn’t blame the loss on her, she did a good job throughout the whole match,” he said.
“I will learn and get better with this,” he added
RUSSIAN SEALS FRENCH OPEN REDEMPTION
Mirra Andreeva outclassed Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 to book her spot in the semi-finals of the French Open on Tuesday, a year on from her painful defeat at the same stage when the frustrated teenager blasted a ball into the Parisian crowd.
The Russian eighth seed needed just under an hour on Court Philippe Chatrier to reach the last four at Roland Garros for thesecond time in three years.
Andreeva, 19, reached the last eight in 2025 before falling in straight sets to French sensation Lois Boisson.
When rain started falling over the French capital on Tuesday morning and Andreeva realised the match would take place under a closed roof, she said she started immediatelyhaving flashbacks to her bad-tempered loss from 12 months ago.
“I was actually joking a little bit this morning, because it was raining, and I knew that we would play with a closed roof.I was just saying that I have little bit of flashbacks to last year,” she said.
“I was just trying to have flashbacks only about the weather and only about the court with closed roof, not about how I played.” However, she need not have worried as she flew out of the traps to race through the first set in a mere 24 minutes.
“I honestly didn’t expect that (winning the first set to love)… Let’s start with me having an amazing warm-up before thematch on the court,” she said.
“I felt like I didn’t miss one ball during the warm-up, so I kind of got a little bit nervous after that, because usuallywhen you have an amazing warm-up, you don’t play the same way during the match.
“But, I don’t know, I just found myself being very, very focused, very aggressive, going for my shots all the time. I don’tknow what happened, but I was just, like, in the zone, I guess.”
– ‘Like for her to win’ –
Two years on from her only previous semi-final run at a major, the former world number five said she was “super happy” to be back in the last four at Roland Garros.
“It’s kind of a long time. I would say that I believe that everything happens for a reason, and if I was not able to reachthe semis of another Grand Slam, then I guess that’s what should have happened,” she added.
Andreeva will face 15th seed Marta Kostyuk on Thursday for a spot in the final. It will be a rematch of last month’s Madrid Open title-decider, which the 23-year-old Ukrainian won in straight sets.
The crushing defeat to Andreeva brought to an end a fairytale run for 36-year-old Cirstea, who will retire at the end of theseason. The in-form Romanian reached the quarter-finals in Paris for the first time since 2009.
“I think it was a great tournament and also a very good clay-court season… I’m very happy. Today, unfortunately, Mirra wasway too strong,” Cirstea said.
The pair, regular hitting partners, shared a warm embrace at the net at the end of the match.
“I absolutely adore Mirra. She’s such a wonderful girl,” Cirstea said. “I would really like for her to win this one.”
FIVE-HOUR MARATHON STUNS
Matteo Arnaldi fought back against fading Frances Tiafoe to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7),3-6, 7-6, 6-4 early Tuesday and become the third Italian in the French Open men’s last eight.
The match lasted five hours and 26 minutes and ended with both men moving as if badly blistered.
“I don’t know how I am standing here,” said Arnaldi, adding that he had been hobbled by a foot injury earlier in the year.
It was his second consecutive five-hour match after his five-set win over Raphael Collignon in the previous round.
“In the third set I was so tired,” he said.
Tiafoe appeared to be cruising when he raced 4-1 ahead with a double-break in the fourth set, flat-footing Arnaldi with quickhands and unexpected angles.
Instead, with the American’s own footwork slowing, Arnaldi won nine of the next 13 games, as well as a tie-break, to move 4-2 ahead in the fifth.
Yet the 28-year-old Tiafoe hauled himself to 4-4.
Arnaldi seized back the initiative by breaking to love.
The Italian wasted a first match point with a double-fault, but, despite some brave hitting by Tiafoe, finally took his thirdchance.
“At some point it wasn’t tennis, it was something else,” Arnaldi said. “You were just playing with everything you had. Therehad to be a winner and fortunately it was me.” Arnaldi will face another unseeded Italian, resurgent Matteo Berrettini, inthe quarter-finals.
Flavio Cobolli, the top Italian seed at 10 following the early elimination of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, will play fourth-seededFelix Auger-Aliassime in the last eight