Rafael Nadal has a new rival for the affections of the sometimes fickle patrons of Court Philippe Chatrier. Anyone who witnessed the tournament’s main court rise to embrace Alexander Zverev in victory here on Friday – reciprocated at length – will have been easily persuaded the handsome young German has the game and the charisma to hold their hearts for as long as he chooses.
In the absence of Roger Federer – the sport’s darling – Zverev is seeded second, so can meet Nadal only in the final. What a match that would be. On the evidence of his progress in the first three matches – a quick loosener on day one against Ricardas Berankis, a three-and-a-half-hour grind to overcome Dusan Lajovic and his imperfect but thrilling 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over 26th seed Damir Dzumhur in the third round – there is still work to do.
“I love loud courts, loud crowds,” he said. “It was pretty full the whole match. Being out there was very special. I lost here to Verdasco last year. It was the first time I won a match here. Hopefully I will be on this court for many more years, and for many more times.”
There is no doubting Zverev’s hunger. His eyes blaze and his long hair flies loose in every thunderous strike, 51 of them clean winners, some injudicious, with 73 unforced errors, as well as eight aces and seven double faults. He plays without fear; feeding judgment into the equation will give his game an irresistible sheen of maturity.
He did bridle, though, when it was suggested he might still be vulnerable in grand slams – he has been taken to a fifth set nine times in 28 slam matches. “I’m trying to win matches,” he said. “If it takes me three sets, great. If it takes me five sets, that’s also great. But I’m trying to win. That’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter how long it goes. It doesn’t matter how much time I’ll spend on court. It doesn’t matter if it goes 9-7 in the fifth or it goes 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. For me is the same. Now I’m in the next round and that’s all that matters.”
After a spirited fightback mid-contest by Dzumhur, there was drama in the latter stages and the crowd loved it. At the start of the third game of the fourth set, Dzumhur collided with a ballboy running simultaneously for a high ball. The latter was escorted from the court, startled but unhurt and with a story to tell his friends.
They battled to the tie-break, where Zverev grew strong and levelled. It all hung on who had the will and the legs. Zverev’s are pipe stems but the superstructure is sound. So is his attitude. He stopped Dzumhur’s charge to the fourth round in the 10th game, held and broke again in a denouement worthy of the Comédie-Française.
On the slightly lesser Lenglen court, Novak Djokovic, who beat Andy Murray in 2016 to win the title, reached out to the faithful in his customary, cup-of-love style, teasing the crowd post-match in French, after a hard-fought, briefly tempestuous, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut, who is not normally above him in the rankings.
But the Serb’s long absences to heal his serving elbow have cost him ranking points and, at 22 in the world, he lies nine places below his opponent, who had beaten him only once in seven attempts, two years ago on the hard court of Shanghai.
“I have a little bit more muscle on me,” Djokovic joked with the crowd. “I will rest, spend some time with my family, and think about the next match [against Fernando Verdasco].”
It was a significant improvement from Djokovic to see off one of the game’s most stubborn and athletic clay-courters. The passion is there – he will probably be fined for a magnificent racket-smash after butchering a simple winner to blow the second-set tie-break.
He showed his old nous by keeping the ball away from Agut’s wicked forehand as often as he could but he had to work for nearly every point. The Spaniard served for the third set but could not hang on. The fourth was more straightforward, the relief on Djokovic’s face palpable.