Alexander Zverev moved to the verge of a long-awaited first Grand Slam title as the second seed saw off Jakub Mensik in four sets to reach his second French Open final on Friday.
The German will face either 10th seed Flavio Cobolli or his fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Sunday after securing a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Mensik.
Zverev has endured several near misses at major tournaments, with three previous final defeats, including against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros two years ago.
“This is a Grand Slam, it’s best of five, things are going to happen, opponents are going to play better. I managed it,” said Zverev.
“I hope to play another great match on Sunday.”
But he will be a strong favourite against either Cobolli or world number 104 Arnaldi to finally get over the line and lift a Slam trophy.
The world number three was playing in his 11th Grand Slam semi-final and his experience showed against Czech youngster Mensik.
The 20-year-old, in the last four of a major for the first time, tired as the match went on as his previous exertions in Paris, including two five-set matches, took their toll.
Zverev has dealt well with the pressure of being the tournament favourite since the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, in the second and third rounds respectively.
He will face one last test of his mental strength on Court Philippe Chatrier in two days’ time, but should at least be fresh physically after reaching the final having only lost two sets in six matches.
“Pure emptiness, there’s absolutely nothing in my head,” insisted a smiling Zverev in his on-court interview.
“We’re athletes, very few of us have anything in our heads. Sometimes it’s easier to be stupid and not to think too much.”
The 29-year-old has been within one set of victory in two of his previous Slam finals, when facing Alcaraz in Paris in 2024 and when he blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
Zverev is also aiming to end a 14-month title drought dating back to a clay-court event in Munich in April last year.
Zverev took a closely-fought first set courtesy of a break in the 11th game, having earlier saved three break points to deny Mensik a 5-3 lead.
The 26th seed could not keep pace at all in the second set, as Zverev broke twice and only dropped four points on his own serve.
Mensik called for a medical time-out just three games into the third set, appearing to struggle with a neck injury.
But he dragged himself back into the contest seemingly out of nowhere, breaking to take a 4-2 lead in the third set as his use of the drop shot started to make a greater impact. That shot wrapped up a hold to love and the set – only the second Zverev had lost in the tournament.
Mensik could not keep up his momentum, though, falling 2-0 behind in the fourth set as consecutive backhand unforced errors gifted Zverev a break.
The three-time Grand Slam runner-up powered into the final from there, despite drawing the ire of some spectators for disputing two line calls and also receiving a warning for a time violation.
Zverev wrapped up victory on his first match point as Mensik netted a backhand.