Veteran Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu rolled back the years on home soil to reach the final in Montpellier. The thirty-four year-old beat a player nearly half his age in eighteen year-old in Alexander Zverev 7-6, 7-5.
Zverev came into the match with mixed form. A tough battle with Luca Vanni was followed by an excellent straight sets win over Marin Cilic, before edging Michael Berrer. Mathieu meanwhile had defeated Benoit Paire and John Millman in his last two matches.
Mathieu took advantage of a sluggish start by Zverev, holding to love before breaking the German prodigy to forty in his first service game. Zverev though, grew into the set, and retrieved the break in game seven, breaking to thirty. The two then held into a mammoth tiebreak, which Mathieu edged thirteen-eleven.
Zverev’s head visibly dropped in the second set but he responded admirably by holding a tough deuce game in game three. Both men were holding well though, with Zverev in particular struggling to gain traction against the Mathieu serve. That frustration boiled over in game seven as Mathieu did break to fifteen before surviving a long game himself. Zverev then did well to hold from love-thirty down to force Mathieu to serve for the match.
Zverev put up an almighty battle earning two break points, but Mathieu saved both, the second with an ace. Zverev earned a third but Mathieu saved yet again. A match point came and went, before Mathieu ripped a backhand wide for yet another break point. Zverev finally broke when Mathieu’s backhand failed yet again, pushing long as he approached the net.
It should have been a catalyst for Zverev to take the match to a final set but Mathieu instead broke immediately, going up love-forty, before cracking a stunning backhand up the line after Zverev had tried to drive an angled backhand. Mathieu did not pass up the second opportunity to serve winning the match by holding to thirty when Zverev could only put a limp backhand slice in the net.
If Mathieu can win in the final, he can win his first title since 2007, when he won Gstaad and Casablanca.
