Zverev

The 28-year-old German recorded his 300th victory on hard courts with a comfortable victory over Musetti.

He played the key points well and made no mistake when serving out for the match after breaking the Italian fourth seed in the 11th game of the second set.

Since losing to Sinner at the Australian Open, Zverev has gone on to reach just two more finals, winning on clay in Munich in April and losing on the grass in Stuttgart in June.

That is in stark contrast to Sinner’s record, with the Italian world number two becoming the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015-16 to appear in eight finals in successive seasons.

Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 20 matches and took his unbeaten record to 12 wins against Australian third seed De Minaur as he claimed a fourth consecutive straight-set victory at the ATP 500 tournament.

He was broken twice – once in each set – but battled his way through what he described as a “physical” encounter.

“I am happy how I handled it,” said the 2023 Vienna Open champion, who is aiming to secure a fourth title of the season after wins at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and China Open.

“I was a break up in the second and he broke me back. I tried to stay strong mentally so I am very happy about today’s performance and obviously to be in another final.”

Elsewhere, 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca reached the first ATP 500 final of his career with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 victory over unseeded Spanish player Jaume Munar at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

He will play another Spaniard – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – in the final after the eighth seed’s opponent Frenchman Ugo Humbert retired while trailing 7-6 (7-4) 3-1 in their semi-final.

Trusting her natural ability, and the work she is doing with coach Wim Fissette to further improve, has also been the key to Swiatek turning around her season.

After a slump by her lofty standards at the start of the year, the former long-time world number one started the final major of the season as most people’s pick for the trophy.

The recently crowned Wimbledon champion, who won the US Open in 2022, underlined her credentials on the American hard courts with victory at the Cincinnati Open.

Swiatek was far from her best against 29th seed Kalinskaya, with a low serve percentage particularly damaging, and her relief was demonstrated by an animated celebration.

“I’m happy that I came back, kept being positive and figured it out,” Swiatek added.

In the other night-session match, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia made light work of Greece’s Maria Sakkari after the pair took to court at 11:15pm local time.

Haddad Maia, seeded 18th, moved fast to wrap up a 6-1 6-2 victory, booking a last-16 match with Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova.

Fearnley’s progress has been so rapid over the past 15 months, it can be easy to forget how inexperienced he remains at the highest level.

Little over a year ago, the former US college student was ranked outside of the world’s leading 500 players.

Since then he has soared up the rankings – cracking the top 50 in June – after a stunning introduction to the ATP Tour.

Fearnley has a habit of drawing high-profile names early in the Grand Slams and has already played on some of the iconic courts in the game.

But in recent months his form has been compromised by a nervous tension which is particularly damaging to his serve.

Asked how he can solve the issue, Fearnley said: “I’m not too sure. I guess it’s helpful to know that even hitting all those double faults I can win the match – that’s a positive more than anything.

“There are good days and bad days, but in recent matches the doubles faults have been an issue.

“I’ll be playing Zverev next on another big court – a high-stakes, high-tense environment and I think putting myself in those situations will help.”

With Fearnley and Bautista Agut not taking to the court until after 8pm local time, a long night looking inevitable when the British number three finally secured a 62-minute opener.

When Fearnley used greater variety in the second and third sets – to move the world number 47 around – it reaped rewards.

Fearnley closed in on a relatively sharpish straight-setter when he broke serve early in the third – only for more double faults to help 37-year-old Bautista Agut extend the contest.

But he reset admirably in the fourth set, landing more first serves and limiting the double faults, to get over the line.

Surviving the first round meant Fearnley has now completed a full set of victories at the four Grand Slam tournaments.

“It was an extremely tough match, I knew Roberto would make me go right to the end,” said Fearnley, who wrapped up victory about 11:15pm local time.

While age is clearly catching up on Djokovic, his insatiable appetite for Grand Slam success shows no signs of slowing down.

A patchy season by his lofty standards has led to questions about his stamina and motivation, while the departure of rival-turned-coach Andy Murray from his team also indicated things were not functioning as he hoped.

But when the major tournaments come around, Djokovic is always still primed to challenge in the latter stages.

In Melbourne, he defied the odds to beat Alcaraz and reach the semi-finals, although the physical exertions led to a hamstring tear which meant he had to retire injured against Zverev in the last-four encounter.

Nevertheless, it showed he still had the desire and capability to beat the younger generation over the five-set format.

“I think the win against Alcaraz and against Zverev tonight proves to myself and others that I can still play at the highest level,” Djokovic said.

“I just thrive on these occasions. This is where I lock in and really give my best.”

Zverev, 28, was once part of the first crop expected to replace Djokovic, Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

This defeat was another illustration of how the German is often unable to problem-solve against Djokovic, who won four of his eight break points.

Often accused of being too passive, Zverev was rooted deep behind the baseline for much of the contest and paid the price as Djokovic took control with his craftmanship.

With belief or focus rarely wavering, the Serb started dictating the patterns of play and used the drop shot effectively to unsettle Zverev.

When the three-time Grand Slam runner-up finally thought his chance of a comeback had arrived midway through the fourth set, he was denied in arguably the point of the tournament.

Djokovic showed all his elasticity and endurance to stop Zverev putting the set back on serve.

It enabled Djokovic to serve out victory after three hours and 17 minutes as another deft drop shot, fittingly, caught out Zverev again.

Novak Djokovic beats Alexander Zverev to set up a French Open semifinal showdown with Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros.

A crucial moment arrived more than two and a half hours into Novak Djokovic’s French Open quarterfinal victory over Alexander Zverev. It was the fourth set, and Djokovic led, but Zverev was in possession of a break point and a chance to get back into the match.

They engaged in a 41-stroke exchange, the longest of a buggy and breezy Wednesday night, and Djokovic came out on top, smacking a forehand winner. He stayed in place afterwards, breathing heavily, with hands on his hips, scanning the standing ovation from thousands of Court Philippe-Chatrier spectators.

Djokovic might be 38 now. He might have slogged through a pair of three-match losing skids this season and slid to sixth in the rankings. What has not changed is Djokovic’s determination or his ability to be his best on big stages — and now he is two wins from a record 25th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic proved too much for third seed Zverev, a man who’s a decade younger and was last year’s runner-up at Roland-Garros, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a semifinal showdown against top-seeded Jannik Sinner.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sinner continued his overpowering run through the bracket by dismissing Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-5, 6-0. Sinner has not only not dropped a set so far, but he has ceded a total of only 36 games through five matches.

So Friday will bring a tantalising showdown between the player many consider the top player in tennis history, Djokovic, and the player who is at the top of the men’s game at the moment, Sinner. Djokovic and Sinner are tied 4-4 in their head-to-head series, but Sinner has won the last three matchups.

No one has spent more weeks at number one in the rankings than Djokovic. No one has won more major championships or reached more major semifinals than his total that now stands at 51 after becoming the second-oldest man to get that far in Paris.

Sinner, 23, is a three-time Grand Slam champion. That includes last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open, so his unbeaten streak at majors is now at 19 matches. He’s also won his last 26 sets at those events.

“He’s playing fast. He’s playing smart,” Bublik said. “He’s in another dimension with all the aspects of the game.”