NEW YORK: German fifth seed Alexander Zverev survived a stern test of nerves to reach his second Grand Slam semi-final this year with a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-6(1) 6-3 victory over Croatian Borna Coric at the US Open yesterday.
After a slow start, Zverev raised his game as the match wore on and showed more poise in the crucial moments against the 27th seed to become the first German to reach the last four at the US Open since Boris Becker in 1995.
Coric made a flying start to the match and needed only 24 minutes to wrap up the first set during which he took advantage of 12 unforced errors from a flat Zverev.
But the German showed plenty of fight in the second set as he came back from a break down and overcame four double-faults and 15 unforced errors to level the match by winning the tiebreak before unleashing an extended roar.
A fired-up Zverev was put to the test again in a pressure-packed third set where, after trading early breaks with Coric, he twice had to serve to stay in the set before going on to cruise through another tiebreak.
Zverev opened the fourth set in emphatic fashion as he sent a volley past Coric to take the opening game to love. He saved four break points in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead and then broke for a 5-3 cushion that sent him on his way to victory.
In the women’s section yesterday, American upstart Jennifer Brady continued her surprising surge with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final.
On Monday, Victoria Azarenka reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final in more than four years by beating Czech Karolina Muchova 5-7 6-1 6-4 in the fourth round.
The former world number one had to rally from a set down to set up a last eight date with Belgian Elise Mertens, her first at that stage of a major since she lost to Angelique Kerber at the 2016 Australian Open.
Mertens continued her strong run this year by taking down American second seed Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3.
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