A semi-final match of extremes: sweltering heat in the heristo-arena, two players who had pushed themselves to their physical limits, and who looked forward to every break with an ice pack on the back of their necks. In the end, 28-year-old Taylor Fritz had the most stamina left and defeated the French Open champion 6–7, 6–4, 7–5.
Things got dramatic right from the first set. Zverev broke his opponent to go 2–1 up, then pulled ahead to 3–1. But Fritz fought back: a re-break to level at 3–3, then taking his own service game to lead 4–3. It was clear that Zverev was struggling to cope with the heat. He was gasping for breath repeatedly and had to sit down on the bench in the middle of the eighth game. Medical time-out – the 29-year-old left Centre Court.
The first thought on many people’s minds: Zverev is retiring. But the Hamburg native came back stronger, focusing above all on his own serve. And so he reached the tie-break. In the tie-break, he secured a mini-break and converted his first set point to win 7–4. Thunderous cheers rang out in the heristo-arena. But then came the anxious look. Zverev made contact with his box, then took a toilet break.
And he returned to the court, determined to win this semi-final. He channelled all his energy into his serve, letting Fritz take his time on his own serve. The aim: to secure victory with short rallies. That didn’t work in the second set. Fritz broke Zverev at 5–4 and won the set 6–4. Afterwards: a cooling break. A ten-minute break, and both players headed off to the changing rooms.
The third set was evenly matched for a long time. The servers barely gave away any points – until 5–5. Fritz managed a break to take a 6–5 lead, and the match was about to be decided. Zverev scored just one more point and lost the deciding set 5–7. “I’m glad to have got through it, to have that match behind me. It was a really nerve-wracking match. I don’t think it’s ever easy when you get the feeling that your opponent is struggling with something. It makes you really tense,” said Fritz.
Alexander Zverev has thus narrowly missed out on the final in Halle for the third time. In 2016, he suffered a surprise defeat to his compatriot Florian Mayer; in 2017, he lost surprisingly heavily to Roger Federer. The Hamburg native, who had to accept defeat once again after ten consecutive victories (French Open and Halle), has so far won an ATP tournament on every surface; only a triumph on grass remains elusive.
Taylor Fritz is thus back in a grass-court final just one week after Stuttgart. Seven days ago, he lost to his compatriot Ben Shelton; on Sunday, he’ll be looking to do better. If you look solely at match wins, Fritz is the most successful grass-court player of this decade, with 43 victories to his name. He won in Stuttgart in 2025, and in Eastbourne he has even won four times (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025).
