Alexander Zverev overcomes Alejandro Tabilo and will play the final in Rome | ATP Tour

Roma

Zverev overcomes Tabilo and will play the final in Rome

The German will play his third final at the Foro Italico

May 17, 2024

Alexander Zverev advanced to his 11th ATP Masters 1000 final, his first since 2022, on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he ended Alejandro Tabilo’s streak with a hard-fought victory.

The German came back to beat Tabilo 1-6, 7-6(4) and 6-2 in an attractive semi-final in Rome.

Zverev started poorly and was unable to cope with Tabilo’s dropshots throughout the first hour. The 26-year-old tennis player, who was playing in his first Masters 1000 semi-final, surprised No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic, in the third round and competed with ease until 3-3 in the second set tie-break , when he began to play more hesitantly.

Zverev soon took advantage of Tabilo’s drop in level to force the decisive set in the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two. The third seed then upped the intensity in the third set to advance to the final in Rome for the third time.

With his victory in two hours and 16 minutes, Zverev broke his streak of four consecutive defeats in the circuit semifinals. The 27-year-old’s last final and title was in Chengdu in September 2023, while his previous final at ATP Masters 1000 level was in Madrid in 2022.

Zverev lifted the trophy in Rome in 2017 when he was just 20 and will compete for his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title when he faces either American Tommy Paul or Chilean Nicolas Jarry on Sunday. By advancing to the title match, the two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion has tied Boris Becker’s record for most ATP Masters 1000 finals by a German since the series began in 1990.