Alexander Zverev names the player he is most surprised to see reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals
Alexander Zverev’s smooth sailing through Roland Garros continued as he defeated Rafael Jodar in straight sets to confirm his place in the semi-finals.
He won 7-6, 6-1, 6-3 against the talented Spanish teenager to continue to live up to his ‘favourite’ tag, following the early exits of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.
Zverev was delighted with the victory over Jodar and the German star will now await the winner between Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik and he will not play until Friday, giving him two full days off.
The men’s draw is wide open this year and there is guaranteed to be a first-time Grand Slam champion at Roland Garros, with the likes of Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Flavio Cobolli the top seeds left in the competition.
With so many left-field players making it to the latter stages of the Grand Slam, Zverev has now named the player he is most surprised to see in the quarter-finals.
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Speaking in his post-match press conference, Zverev said: “The one I know best is Matteo [Berrettini], but for me Matteo always has the level and it’s just about him bringing it on the tennis court. I’m not surprised that he found his level for me.”
However, he plays Matteo Arnaldi’s appearance in the quarter-finals is the biggest shock of all.
He continued: “Probably the biggest surprise is Matteo Arnaldi. I think ranking wise and what he’s done in the past. I think Cobolli, we know the potential that he had. Berrettini, we know he’s a Grand Slam finalist. He can play fantastic tennis.
“So if you talk about surprise probably Arnaldi but again he’s a fantastic tennis player. I feel like the the draw opened up a lot on the top half.”
Zverev believes the bottom half of the draw, which he is part of, has not been hit with as many shocks as the top half of the draw has.
“I feel like in the bottom half less I mean of course with Joao Fonseca beating Djokovic,” he said. “It’s a big match that opened up the draw but everything else is kind of normalish on the on the bottom half and the top half, of course, it’s different and who do I prefer to play?”
Zverev is yet to play a player ranked inside the top 10 and he is guaranteed to reach the final without having to beat a top-ranked player.
His next potential two opponents, Fonseca and Mensik, are currently ranked outside the top 20 of the rankings, at World No. 21 and 25, respectively.
However, they will not be pushovers and they have proved already that they can cause an upset. Fonseca has beaten Djokovic and Casper Ruud back-to-back, while Mensik has managed victories against Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.
