Zverev, Tabilo Roll Into Rome Masters SFs; Tsitsipas, Paul Thurs Favorites?

Former champion Alexander Zverev knocked out Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in convincing fashion Wednesday in the Rome Masters quarterfinals.

Zverev, a former champion, was lockdown from the baseline and was strong enough on serve to enjoy a straight-forward win, his fifth in eight tries over the improving American.

“That’s the shot I either win or lose matches with. That’s how it’s been my entire career,” Zverev told the crowd of his solid forehand tonight. “When I’m hitting that shot well, that’s when I win. When I’m not hitting it too well, that’s when I lose. That’s definitely the shot I’ve been working the most on in my career, also my serve obviously.”

The German drew blood in his hands after falling in the third game of the match, but luckily that was his lone true scare of the night.

“Taylor has been one of the best players on clay this year. To have a win like that is great for me, especially after the fall,” he said. “I still have a little bit of pain, so once the adrenaline settles I’m going to check out tomorrow what it is. But definitely happy with the win.”

Zverev will be the huge favorite in the Friday semifinals against the surprising Alejandro Tabilo. The Chilean lefty continued his breakout run reaching his biggest career semifinal with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Zhang Zhizhen of China.

“I can’t believe it right now. I’m still trying to just soak this in,” Tabilo told the ATP. “I’m just so happy. I felt pretty good on court, pretty solid. I was just trying to my job and play my best tennis.”

Tabilo is the man who stunned Novak Djokovic earlier this week.

Tomorrow, the last two quarter take place with American Tommy Paul taking on Hubert Hurkacz for a third time. The two have split their previous encounters.

And in the evening, Stefanos Tsitsipas matches up with Chilean Nicolas Jarry. Jarry actually leads 3-2 winning their latest last fall in Beijing.

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