Alexander Zverev is the master of the five-setter; Alex de Minaur is a living example of perpetual motion. Their quarter-final promises to be the ultimate test of endurance
Two back-to-back five-set matches is not the ideal preparation for a Roland-Garros quarter-final but Alexander Zverev does not care.
He escaped by the skin of his teeth against Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday and had to fight his way back from a two-sets-to-one deficit on Monday night. He has every right to feel exhausted.
“The body is tired,” he said. “But I would rather be here at 3am and still be in the tournament than be out of it at 3pm. Even with the day off, there is never enough time to recover completely but I can handle it because of the work I do in the off-season and because of the years of experience I have on tour.”
Ah, but does he have enough fuel in the tank to play three more five-setters if he has to? That brought a wry smile. “I’d like to say ‘yes’,” he said, “but I hope that sometimes I can win in less than five sets!”
The world No.4 has played Alex de Minaur nine times over the years and lost just twice, but in their two meetings this year the honours are even. Zverev has watched the Australian climb the rankings to his current No.11 position and he knows exactly what he is up against.
©Philippe Montigny / FFT“All the guys in the quarter-finals deserve to be here and they are all playing great tennis,” Zverev pointed out. “De Minaur played an excellent match to beat Medvedev – he is playing the best tennis of his life, especially this year. I’m looking forward to a battle and probably a very difficult match.”
De Minaur is very much a man of the world and he wins fans wherever he goes. He is Australian, he speaks French and he is dating a British player (Katie Boulter) – that is three of the four Grand Slam crowds won over.
Now he just needs to work on his American connections and he would have all four bases covered.
© CEDRIC LECOCQ / FFTThat said, he did have the Louis Armstrong crowd in the palm of his hand when he recorded the second-latest finish at the US Open in 2018 (he beat Marin Cilic in five sets). He is a popular chap.
There is no one, killer shot that De Minaur (known as Demon to his friends and admirers) has in his kit bag but he makes up for that with his eyewatering speed around the court; there is barely a ball that can get past him. And he has never played better.
If the pundits are calling this an “open draw”, Demon is as ready as anyone to run right through it.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
