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Alexander Zverev’s mission to win back-to-back titles in his hometown continued apace on Friday evening at the Hamburg Open.

The top seed and defending champion eased past Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals for the fourth time at the clay-court ATP 500. With his 66-minute triumph, his 43rd of the season, Zverev moved clear of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner for the most tour-level wins in 2024.

Zverev powered 22 winners, including 10 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in a dominant victory against the eighth-seeded Zhang. The manner of victory for the No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings was in stark contrast to his three-set battle against Hugo Gaston on Thursday evening, when he appeared to struggle with a knee injury he sustained earlier this month at Wimbledon.

“I’m extremely pleased with the level of tennis today,” said Zverev in his post-match interview. “I think it was a big step up from yesterday, but obviously a very different match as well. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals, but I don’t want to stop here, I want to continue and hopefully defend my title here in Hamburg.”


Zverev has this year reached the final at Roland Garros, the semi-finals at the Australian Open and won an ATP Masters 1000 crown in Rome. Later this month, he will begin his defence of his Olympic crown at Paris 2024. The 27-year-old was asked how his season so far has compared to 2021, when he finished the year with 59 tour-level wins and won six titles.

“2021 was strange, because I started the season OK, I was playing well, but then the second half of the season, I barely lost a match,” he recalled. “So I hope if it goes like that this year, especially with the Olympics and especially with the US Open, I’ll be the happiest person on the planet. We’ll see how it goes. I’m satisfied with the level of tennis I’m playing right now, but it takes a lot of hard work to continue on this path and on this journey.”

The next assignment for Zverev in his Hamburg title defence is a last-four clash against Pedro Martinez. The Spaniard rallied past fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach his first ATP 500 semi-final.

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In the bottom half of the draw, third seed Sebastian Baez and fifth seed Arthur Fils will play their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash for a spot in the championship match. Baez pulled through for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Luciano Darderi . He has now won a Tour-leading 23 matches on clay this year.

Fils was leading Holger Rune 6-4, 4-1 when the second-seeded Dane was forced to retire from the pair’s quarter-final clash due to a right knee injury. The #NextGenATP Frenchman Fils, who also reached the last four last year, is up three spots to a career-high No. 25 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Hamburg run so far. Should he win the title in Germany, he would crack the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday.

Zverev, the top seed and defending champion, continued his run on home soil with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Pedro Martinez later on Saturday. The 27-year-old is through to his third consecutive clay final after Rome (d. Jarry) and Roland Garros (l. to Alcaraz). It is his 35th tour-level final overall (22-12), and his eighth in Germany.

Zverev leads the ATP Tour with 44 wins this year, two ahead of Jannik Sinner. Only Zverev, Sinner and Casper Ruud (40) have at least 40 tour-level singles wins so far in 2024.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex ... >Alexander Zverev</a>
Photo by Hamburg Open ATP 500/Mathias Schulz

With the help of 11 aces, Zverev did not lose a service game against Martinez, saving the only break point he faced. It was the third match this week in which the German did not surrender his serve, after he did not face a break point against Jesper de Jong or Zhang Zhizhen.

He will next bid to improve to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Fils, who he beat in three sets last month in Halle.

"He's somebody that is extremely aggressive and he's somebody that is very young," Zverev said of his final opponent. "He obviously has the talent, he has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, and it's up to him to realise his potential. Tomorrow I'm going to do everything that I can to prevent that, for him to make a step forward. But he's a great talent and there's nothing bad to say about him."

Just the second German champion in Hamburg after Michael Stich (1993), Zverev is bidding to become the first home favourite to successfully defend the crown.

German would feel comfortable running the 400m if he had the chance
July 28, 2024
Alexander Zverev recalls Usain Bolt's 100m heroics in Beijing as one of his earliest Olympic memories.
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Alexander Zverev recalls Usain Bolt's 100m heroics in Beijing as one of his earliest Olympic memories.
By ATP Staff
Reigning gold medallist Alexander Zverev has a chance to add his name to the record books of the Olympic Tennis Event as seeks to successfully defend his Tokyo title. Only Andy Murray has achieved this feat (2012, 2016).

Ahead of his quest for history, ATPTour.com caught up with the 27-year-old to learn where he keeps his prized Tokyo medal, who his favourite Olympic athlete is and how that ties in with his earliest memory from the event.

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What other Olympic sport do you think you would be good at?
We had this discussion [with my team], a funny question, ‘Which Olympic sport do you think you can compete in and not get last?’ I think I would get last in every single sport, I honestly do. I think if it's a team competition like hockey or field hockey or basketball or something, I could hide behind some players. Maybe I could sit on the bench doing quite well. I think there's no chance at all. I mean, I enjoy basketball. I enjoy field hockey. I enjoy a lot of sports, but I would be atrocious in all of them I think.

I'm actually quite okay at middle distances like 400m running. So I think I will be okay at it, but I will still be dead last. But I guess I'm okay for a tennis player, let's put it that way.

For which Olympic sports would you be not well suited?
The obvious ones are maybe skateboarding. I think swimming, I'm not a great swimmer, something like that. Skateboarding would not be great.

Who are your favourite Olympic athletes?
Usain Bolt comes to mind. Fastest man alive, right? So you love watching that. Matthias Steiner for me as a German and also a diabetic, so that has something close to my heart.

Which Olympic sport is Germany best at?
Equestrian. I think we win 85 gold medals every year there, so I think that one.

What is your earliest Olympic memory?
For me the earliest one is Bolt in 2008 in Beijing, setting the new world record.

What did it mean to you to win gold in 2021?
For me, the Olympics are still the biggest sporting event in the world. So there's nothing bigger than winning a gold medal I think for your country, for yourself and for everybody back at home. I think it's an experience that you can't feel anywhere else.

How much fun was the Olympic village?
It was awesome. It was great fun just being out with your athletes, just seeing other athletes that you watch on TV just walking around having food at the same restaurant as you and just mingling, just being around everybody.

Where do you keep the gold medal?
In my apartment in Monaco. It’s in the living room area.

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev continued his quest at this year's Paris Olympics on Tuesday when he moved past Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round.

In hot conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier, the German won 88 per cent (14/16) of his first-serve points in the first set and then rallied from a break down in the second set to advance after one hour and 35 minutes.

Zverev, who struck 24 winners, won the gold medal in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, beating Novak Djokovic en route. The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face Alexei Popyrin after the Australian beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5.