His words sounded like farewell.
“It was a wonderful ten years,” said Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev after his 6: 3, 6: 4 quarter-final victory over Frenchman Luca Van Assche, quickly adding: “Don’t worry, I won’t stop.”
The world number 19. reveled in the past and remembered the start of his career at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum in 2013. That’s where he wants to fulfill a long-awaited dream by winning the tournament. “It’s my home tournament. It’s a big goal that I want to achieve,” explained Zverev.
Two more wins needed
The top German player is still missing two wins. At the ATP clay court tournament, which is worth 1.832 million euros, he will face Frenchman Arthur Fils on Saturday. The 19-year-old won surprisingly smoothly 6:0, 6:4 against the top seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud. Zverev has not made it past the semi-finals in five appearances at Rothenbaum.
Perhaps the overnight stays in the Lemsahl district of Hamburg will also help. “Everything is still the same as before. The cot, the cuddly toys,” said a cheerful Zverev about the apartment in which he grew up and joked: “However, Sophia still needs space.” The 26-year-old meant his partner Sophia Thomalla, who was sitting in the stands.
In the quarter-finals, number four seeded Zverev showed his good form. After a little over 40 minutes, the man from Hamburg won the first set 6:3. He had some problems in the second set, Van Assche was already leading 4:1. “I would prefer to be the least popular player and always have an unexciting game. But I’m not that,” joked Zverev.
“I’ll do anything for the audience”
At least the fans at Rothenbaum would have gotten a little more excitement. “And I do everything for the audience,” said Zverev. The German then won five games in a row and after 1:29 hours converted the second match point with an ace into a two-set success.
Michael Stich celebrated the last German tournament victory in the men’s competition at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum 30 years ago. In five previous attempts, Zverev had not made it past the semifinals and is back in his hometown for the first time since 2019.
Altmaier misses semifinals
Daniel Altmaier previously missed the semifinals after a 4:6, 4:6 defeat against the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen. The world number 79. is now, like the Serb Laslo Djere, a possible final opponent of Zverev. Djere defeated defending champion Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-5, 6-3.
In the case of the women, the last German success was even a year longer ago. Icon Steffi Graf last won the Rothenbaum in 1992. On Saturday, Graf can be replaced by the 19-year-old Hamburg surprise Noma Noha Akugue. The world rankings-207. is in the final after 6: 3, 6: 3 over the Russian Diana Schnaider. “I can’t believe it all,” said the talent from Reinbek after the fourth WTA success. Opponent is the Dutch Arantxa Rus.
