Up and coming German youngster Alexander Zverev has claimed a spot in the semifinals of the 2016 Citi Open. He accomplished the defeat with a swift and balanced defeat of Benoit Paire. In a speedy match that lasted just 57 minutes, Zverev was able to sweep the older Paire 6-1, 6-3.
Emerging talent
Paire is well aware of the dangers of facing tough and emerging competition on the ATP Tour. He was defeated in the Australian Open by youngster Noah Rubin in the first round. The outcome of that match is known to have sparked a fiery display from a clearly frustrated Paire.
He was frustrated today as well.
Zverev came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. He was barely even pushed in the first set by Paire. The German never even faced a single break point in that first set. He was able to routinely keep Paire away with his heavy mixture of strong backhand play and a massive wingspan that allows him to easily stab at returns. Though Paire was unable to push Zverev in the first set, the young German did quite a bit of bullying of his own. He won ninety percent of his first service points, buoyed by an increasingly powerful serve that touch over 130 miles per hour at times. His heavy groundstrokes and solid two-handed backhand play allowed his to push Paire to three break points. The German claimed them all, winning the first set 6-1.
Too little, too late
Paire was able to push back a little in the second set. He did manage to hold his own largely throughout the set, but his mistakes were too many to overcome. The Frenchman slipped up during his third turn on serve in the final set of the match. Zverev's ability to simply get to several shots and had little trouble defending his own serve.
The only blip he faced was in the first game of the final set. Zverev was in danger of being broken twice, but rallied down 15-40, to hold and sailed through the rest of the match.
Paire, for his part, fired 31 unforced errors in the match. It proved to be far too many mistakes against the young Zverev, who is surely hoping he is building something special for the second half of the year.
For Zverev, he is looking to claim his first ATP title on the world tour. In order to do so, he will need to topple another Frenchman. He is due to face the always--energetic Gael Monfils in the semifinal. It will be quite a tall order for Zverev, as he has failed to defeat Monfils in the previous two matches they have played. However, if keeps playing as well as he has the past week, he surely believes he has a chance.