World No. 8 Dominic Thiem crushed a weary Alexander Zverev to progress to his third successive Roland Garros semifinal on Tuesday. Thiem knew that the second seed would be lacking physically, exploiting the situation to his advantage, moving him side to side and in and out to coast through to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 victory in an hour and 50 minutes.
Zverev started the match looking physically exhausted after three successive five-setters, but did extremely well to initially hold on to his serve and put as much pressure as possible on Thiem. However, the Austrian was waiting for his opportunity to pounce and he did just that as he played an extremely fine game to break in the seventh game.
Thiem took total control of the opening set as he consolidated the break in the following game. Subsequently, Thiem pulled out an ace before producing an unreturnable serve to win the first set 6-4. Indeed, Thiem really earned the set by playing the better, more dynamic tennis in comparison to his far more talented opponent.
As Zverev appeared to be out of energy and ideas, Thiem put his foot on the accelerator, breaking the German in the third game of the second set after barely having to do anything. The seventh seed, then secured the double break in the fifth game as he began to control the pace of the match. His construction of points was simply outstanding as he made Zverev hit an extra ball almost each time in a rally.
Thiem continued to enjoy his time on the court, whipping forehands at will. On the other hand, Zverev was seen looking up at his team to find answers to his misery. In the end, he found none as he lost the second set as Thiem frustrated him completely by moving him from side to side, which even took out the tiny bit of energy he had inside his body.
The third set turned out to be a major disappointment for Zverev as he could barely move on the court. Within a blink of an eye, he found himself 4-0 down, which quickly became 5-1 before Thiem sealed his place in the last 8 after Zverev failed to hold his serve despite saving two match points.
