Zverev back in Paris last eight

Now on a 10-match winning streak, the Rome champion will have the edge in late stage Roland-Garros experience next against Australian No.11 seed Alex de Minaur, who will be playing his first quarter-final in Paris, as he bids for a fourth straight semi-final on the terre battue.

But first, Zverev needed to engineer an escape on Paris’ main stage for the second round in a row.

Story of the match

Both Rune and Zverev were inches away from being bundled out of the tournament at one previous point in the fortnight: Zverev came from two breaks down in the fifth set against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, and in the second round, Rune’s Italian foe, Flavio Cobolli, led 5-0 in the fifth-set tiebreak.

But the freedom that comes with being afforded a second life in a tennis tournament was evident for just one of the two men in the first set. Though both struck 13 winners, Zverev racked up 13 unforced errors - and ambitious play from Rune in the fifth game forced the German into four other misses to surrender the set’s only service break. 

Rune saved all three break points he faced for the set, all in the next game, en route to taking a one-set lead. He wriggled out of 0-30 in the final game by striking two forehand winners and an ace.

There were no such escapes for Rune in the second set, which lasted just six minutes short of the first despite a contrasting scoreline. Three game points went unconverted in Rune’s 10-minute first service game, and Zverev broke serve for the first time when Rune missed a forehand to close a 16-shot rally. 

The Dane missed several other chances in subsequent games. He had 0-30 on Zverev’s serve at 2-0, and 40-15 on his own serve trailing 3-0. After 89 minutes played, the match was even at one set apiece.

Rune found his clutch play once more in set three, despite letting an early break slip in a crucial third set. After that trade, the two men held their serves to love in five of the next seven games, until the Dane found himself staring down a 15-40 deficit at 5-5. He, and his forehand, responded: two clean winners from Rune’s right-handed stroke helped him escape danger, and he captured eight of the last nine points through to the end of the set.

And it looked like Rune’s forehand was going to steer him into the quarter-finals for a third straight year as he came from behind not once, but twice, in the fourth set to put himself on the precipice of a win. 

He trailed by a break at 2-1 and 5-3, but six of his groundstroke winners for the set (and one of his aces) came in the next three games. He was three points away from sealing his own berth in the final eight before Zverev won 11 of the set’s last 13 points (and six in a row in the tiebreak).

Once in the final set, Zverev had no plans to upend his near-perfect record in Roland-Garros five-setters. After failing to convert three break points in Rune’s first service game of the final set, he broke handily in the Dane’s second and fourth service games to earn his ninth five-set win in 10 played at the tournament.

Key stats

Rune’s competitiveness was particularly impressive despite a gulf between the two players’ consistency on serve. The Dane, despite 10 aces, landed just 57 percent of his first serves in the match, leading to a staggering 23 break points faced. Though he saved 15, he dropped serve eight times.

Zverev, meanwhile, hit 16 aces, landed 71 percent of his first serves, and faced only 10 break points (he saved just four). He also won 76 percent of his first serve points, which topped out at 224kph (139mph).

The numbers also favoured Zverev off the ground: he hit 61 winners and just 39 unforced errors. Rune, though, nearly matched him in finishers, needing to hit 60 winners to keep up with his 50 unforced errors.

What Zverev said

In praise of Rune: “What a match. Holger is an unbelievable player, a young talent, you’re going to see him for 15, maybe 20 years on this beautiful court, so credit to him. He’s been struggling this year a little bit, but this week he’s been playing unbelievable tennis. I’m lucky. I’m lucky to be through.”

On his fitness and resilience on Chatrier: “I’m proud. I’m proud to be in the quarter-finals. I’ve played a total of eight-and-a-half hours in the last three days, so I need to recover, I need to do everything possible to be ready for the quarter-final match, because obviously, the tournament doesn’t stop here, and I want to continue.”