No. 3 Zverev outlasts No. 2 Tsitsipas in dramatic fashion for spot in Western & Southern Open final

MASON – The most notable parts of the Western & Southern semifinal match between Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas didn’t happen on the court.

Zvevrev and Tsitsipas battled through a two-hour and 41-minute drama-filled fiasco which ended in favor of Zverev in a 7-4 tiebreak. But the story started much before the final score.

“It was a very dramatic match against one of the best players in the world this year. I think Stef has been playing incredible tennis and is on an incredible level,” Zevrev said. “I feel like the match that we put on today, without a crowd, wouldn’t be the match, if you know what I mean. It would be completely different.”

After dropping the first set 6-4, Tsitsipas left the court and headed to the locker room with his bag. After an extended period of time, Zverev was visibly frustrated on the court and when Tsitsipas returned he was welcomed by a roar of boos from the stands.  

Later, when Tsitsipas asked to use the bathroom again, he was not permitted to do so.

“The referee doesn’t have the best reputation on tour among players,” Tsitsipas said in a post-match press conference. “I wanted to go change in the third set because I was pouring wet, couldn’t even hold my racquet and the referee decided not to give me that break that I really wanted to go change clothes.”

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Tsitsipas said he believed rules allowed a player to use the bathroom in each set. However, according to the ATP rulebook, “A player is entitled to one toilet break during a best-of-three-set match.”

“I would like to check it out. I don't think it is this way. Especially if you're battling for a very long period of time  … It could be a very long set that could last one hour and a half. You know, sometimes with all the liquid that we consume, you might want to go more often, obviously,” Tsitsipas said when a reporter stated the correct rule.

Regardless, the match went on with both men grabbing one set each.

In the third set, just as Zverev began to dig himself out of a 4-1 hole, he took a beeline to the locker room himself. When he returned, he approached the chair umpire asking for a doctor.

“I felt very low energy. My stomach was swirling a little bit,” Zverev said.

Zverev bounced back with a bold three straight aces. He cut his third set deficit down to just one game and almost grabbed victory when he took a 6-5 lead until Tsitsipas responded to enter a tiebreak.   

In the tiebreak, the men rallied back and forth until Zverev, the first German semifinalist 2003, ran away with it after his fourth point.

In Sunday's final, the third-seeded Zverev will face 4-seed Andrey Rublev. This will be Zverev’s second ATP masters 1000 final of the year.