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German next plays Cilic or Garin
Alexander Zverev earned his 100th ATP Masters 1000 win Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, moving past Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3 7-6(5) to reach the quarter-finals in Rome.

The German, who arrived in the Italian capital off the back of a run to the final at the Mutua Madrid Open, won 76 per cent (31/41) of his first-serve points and recovered from squandering a break advantage in the second set to eventually triumph after one hour and 50 minutes.

“My performance was better than yesterday. I managed to keep my focus,” Zverev said. “Alex is a great player and he is a great returner, so losing your serve here and there can happen. I need to work on serving out a little more. I tried to stay aggressive. I had to hit my shots quite hard against Alex and it worked out well today.”

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The World No. 3 is still aiming to capture his first title of the season, but has now won six of his past seven matches and will aim to improve that record when he plays Chilean Cristian Garin or Croatian Marin Cilic in the last eight. It is the fifth time Zverev has advanced to the quarter-finals at a tour-level event in 2022.

The five-time Masters 1000 champion is making his sixth appearance in the Italian Capital, with his best result at the clay-court tournament a run to the title in 2017.

With his victory, Zverev now leads de Minaur 6-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with this their first meeting on clay. The World No. 22 was trying to reach the quarter-finals at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, after defeating Dusan Lajovic and Tommy Paul earlier this week.

German next faces Tsitsipas or Sinner
Alexander Zverev continued the quest for his first title of the season Friday, overcoming Cristian Garin 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the third time.

In a commanding performance on Grand Stand Arena, the World No. 3 fired his flat groundstrokes through the court as he struck 24 winners and broke the Chilean four times to advance after one hour and 51 minutes.

“It was a high-level match. At times it wasn’t pretty tennis, but I got the job done and that is the most important thing,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I am through to the semi-finals and I am happy about that.”

With his victory, Zverev has now levelled his ATP Head2Head series with Garin at 1-1, gaining revenge for his defeat to the World No. 45 on clay in Munich in 2019. The German will next play Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas or Italian Jannik Sinner in the last four.

The second seed, who defeated Novak Djokovic to capture the trophy in Rome in 2017, has won seven of his past eight matches after he reached the final at the Mutua Madrid Open last week. The 2021 Nitto ATP Finals winner is yet to drop a set in Rome.

By advancing to the semi-finals in the Italian capital, it means Zverev has enjoyed a run to at least the last four at the three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 events this season. The 25-year-old lost to Tsitsipas in the semi-finals in Monte Carlo in April.

Garin was appearing in his third Masters 1000 quarter-final, having advanced to this stage in Paris in 2019 and Madrid in 2021.

The five-time tour-level titlist defeated Francesco Passaro, Emil Ruusuvuori and Marin Cilic en route to the last eight, but was unable to cope with Zverev’s ball-striking and intensity as the match went on.