Alexander Zverev reached his second Grand Slam final at the French Open with a 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory against Casper Ruud.
The Norwegian was the runner-up at Roland Garros in both 2023 and 2022, and he dropped just seven games when they met in the semi-final 12 months ago. But he struggled with a stomach issue during Friday’s match and needed medication.
Zverev will now face world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who has an undefeated 2-0 record in Grand Slam finals.
Hours earlier, it was confirmed that Zverev had reached an out-of-court settlement with his ex-girlfriend after he was accused of strangling her in Berlin four years ago. The settlement does not include an admission of guilt.
Zverev was given a penalty order and a £380,000 fine for bodily harm against the ex-girlfriend in October. He denied all allegations and contested the penalty order, meaning the case went to court. The trial started last week but it was discontinued on Friday after representatives for Zverev and his ex-partner reached a settlement.
The Tiergarten District Court said: “There has been a settlement between the defendant and the complainant. This settlement is not part of this trial though and the court is not part of this settlement.”
Zverev was back on the tennis court for his semi-final match against Ruud on Friday evening, with Alcaraz already through to the championship match after defeating Jannik Sinner in five sets.
It was a slow start for the fourth seed, who threw in some double faults and was broken immediately. Ruud looked to be on his way to a third successive French Open final when he raced into a 6-2 lead after 37 minutes.
But the Norwegian started to struggle and Zverev quickly levelled the score when he took the second set 6-2. Ruud he eventually told the umpire that he was struggling with a stomach problem, calling the doctor and taking medication.
