Alexander Zverev was only a few points away from losing in the semi-final of the 2024 Italian Open, but he ultimately defeated Alejandro Tabilo and secured a spot in the final in Rome.
The German admitted recently that he's hoping to prove himself this clay season, and wins like this one certainly helps him. Tabilo might not be the biggest name in tennis, but the Chilean has looked superb this week, which he proved by beating Novak Djokovic.
He looked really solid in this match as well, coming a few points away from winning the match, but he couldn't quite keep his serve when it mattered the most.
Zverev has a clear goal of possibly winning Roland Garros, so runs like this one in Rome are certainly confidence-building. The first set wasn't very good for him, but not because he was terrible.
He was actually playing relatively well, but Tabilo brought a really high level to the match, hitting 11 winners in that opening set, which lasted only 7 games. The score was 6-1, and that type of set was obviously not going to repeat.
The second set was far more competitive and ended in a tie-break. Both players played pretty well, and Zverev was the only player who allowed a break point. Tabilo never faced a breakpoint, but he didn't play sharply in the tie-break either.
The third seed was more aggressive, and it proved important because Tabilo didn't handle the pressure that well. He started to miss more, and after he dropped the second set, he couldn't find his level again in the third.
The focus wasn't there in that final set, and far too many mistakes sealed the deal for Zverev. The final score was 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 for the German, who will hope to go all the way after a really solid week.
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