Zverev Edges Young Spaniard Into Roland Garros Semifinal
Alexander Zverev brushed aside 19-year-old Rafael Jodar to become the first man into the Roland Garros semifinals, where Jakub Mensik awaits on June 5.
- Zverev beat Rafael Jodar 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
- The match lasted two hours and 28 minutes, with only the first set tight.
- The German is the first man through to the Roland Garros 2026 semifinals.
- He faces Czech Jakub Mensik in the last four on June 5.
Court Philippe Chatrier was packed to the last row, and the kid on the other side of the net did not look the least bit bothered by it. Rafael Jodar, just 19, played the opening set as though he had been on this stage for two seasons. His first serves landed, his backhand kissed the lines, and for a stretch it looked like the story of the tournament might earn another chapter.
Alexander Zverev, though, is the kind of player who does not panic over one difficult set. The third seed waited for his moment in the tie-break, took it 7-3, and from there the match tilted hard against the young Spaniard. What had been an even contest turned, within an hour, into a one-way street.
How did Zverev break the tournament’s surprise package?
Jodar had reached the quarterfinals as the most pleasant surprise of Roland Garros, but experience settled it in the end. Once he dropped the first set, the Spaniard sagged physically and mentally, and Zverev sensed it instantly. The second set was done in a little over half an hour, 6-1, a run of quick games in which his opponent barely had an answer.
What Zverev did well was not spectacular, it was patient. He held the long rallies, made the young rival cover every corner of the court, and waited for the error that, as the match wore on, kept arriving more often. In the third set Jodar still tried, but the legs were gone. The closing 6-3 came after two hours and 28 minutes of play.
- First set: 7-6(3), the only contested stretch
- Second set: 6-1, the turning point of the match
- Third set: 6-3, a controlled finish
That made Zverev the first man into the Roland Garros 2026 semifinals. The German has sat near the top of the game for years without a major to show for it, and this year’s Paris may be his best chance yet to change that.
Who awaits him in the last four?
In the fight for a final spot on June 5, Zverev meets Jakub Mensik. The young Czech reached the semifinals after a convincing quarterfinal win over Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, who he beat 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(3). It was a duel between two of the most exciting names of the new generation, and Mensik proved he can last on clay both physically and mentally.
For Zverev, this is familiar territory. He has reached a Roland Garros final before and knows the cost of a match like this in the second week in Paris. Mensik brings youth and nerve, but a touch less experience on this surface. Everything points to the favorite, yet it is exactly these young rivals who tend to surprise when least expected.
Will the experienced German finally reach his first Grand Slam trophy, or will one of the young guns stop him a step short again?
