Alexander Zverev 'has the perfect game' to play Rafael Nadal, says Mats Wilander ahead of French Open semis
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Published 02/06/2022 at 19:40 GMT
Alexander Zverev has all the tools at his disposal to pose Rafael Nadal problems in their hugely anticipated French Open semi-final, believes Eurosport's Mats Wilander. After 13 Roland-Garros titles and with a battle-hardening quarter-final win over Novak Djokovic behind him, many have Nadal as the favourite to reach another final. But Wilander says the German will believe he can do it.
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Alexander Zverev's game matches up "perfectly" against Rafael Nadal, says Mats Wilander ahead of the pair's French Open semi-final.
Whilst Wilander admits that doesn't necessarily mean Zverev will beat the Spaniard, the Eurosport expert thinks it does at least give the German every chance of causing a huge upset on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday.
Zverev heads into the last four on the back of one of his best-ever major wins over Carlos Alcaraz, while Nadal had an equally significant victory over Novak Djokovic.
As such and with the pair looking so at ease with their respective games, it could be one of the matches of the tournament.
Wilander said on Eurosport: “His [Zverev's] first serve is maybe the biggest first serve in the men’s game right now.
"It is absolutely huge. If he has a high percentage, he will get free points.
"The high backhand, it reminds me so much of Robin Soderling, who obviously beat Rafa in 2009.
"We always talk about Zverev’s weakness at the baseline, the forehand down the line but he doesn’t have to hit a forehand down the line against Rafa as he can hit cross-court with a lot of topspin and set it up for his backhand.
"I think he has the perfect game to play against Rafa.
"Can he beat him? I believe he believes he can.”
Chris Evert is another Eurosport expert to laud the progress of Zverev through a devilish half of the draw, but she stopped short of making him favourite against the 'King of Clay'.
She said: "I can’t believe that side of the draw, how loaded it is with one great player after another.
"Zverev has been very self-contained, his attitude, his professionalism has been great this tournament, his focus has been great.
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"Rafa - how is he going to be coming out here? He’s been in so many big, gruelling matches – how does his body feel? How emotionally does he feel? That’s going to be another factor but I think we’re going to have another four, five-set match with those two and I think we’re going to see their best tennis.
"I'm leaning towards Rafa [to win]. He’s come too far, he’s played too many cliff-hanger matches, he’s been able to come back after big wins and just keep that momentum up over seven straight matches better than anyone.
"I'm looking at him to win the tournament now."
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