Alexander Zverev has reached the semi-finals of the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN for the sixth time. However, the German star was far from having an easy time of it against Raphael Collignon, who had fought his way through the qualifiers to reach the quarter-finals. In a match where the difference between the players was minimal, Zverev triumphed after two hours of play with a score of 7–6(10), 7–6(2).
After the first match of the day between Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton had seen no breaks but three tie-breaks, the pattern remained largely unchanged with the next two players in the heristo-arena. With the exception of the first service game, in which Zverev squandered two break points, both players held their serves without conceding a single break for a long time – although the crowd were treated to some entertaining rallies time and again.
Things got really exciting in the tie-break. Zverev quickly pulled ahead to 4–1 and seemed to be heading confidently towards winning the set. At 4–5, however, Collignon fought back to win the mini-break and, with a series of powerful serves, even created three set points. Zverev managed to fend off all of them, before converting his own third chance with a backhand passing shot down the line to take a much-celebrated lead.
It wasn’t until the middle of the second set that the next break point opportunity arose – this time for Collignon. However, with a powerful serve down the line, Zverev managed to escape the tight spot and, shortly afterwards, levelled the score at 4–4. Once again, a tie-break had to decide the set. Zverev took an early 3–0 lead – and this time he held on to that advantage right to the end. He converted his second match point to win 7–2.
Zverev now needs just two more wins to secure his long-awaited first title in Halle. In Saturday’s semi-final, the Hamburg native will face Taylor Fritz, against whom he has a 5–9 head-to-head record that leaves room for improvement. The American has won all of their last six encounters.
