Alexander Zverev on brink of elusive Grand Slam title in Paris

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany advanced to Sunday's French Open final to face the winner of Friday's all-Italian semifinal.

Zverev moved closer to his elusive first Grand Slam title with Friday's 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory against No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia at Roland Garros in Paris.

Zverev, 29, has won 24 ATP Tour singles titles and an Olympic gold medal (2020) but is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals with losses at the 2020 U.S. Open, 2024 French Open and 2025 Australian Open.

He took care of business against the 20-year-old Mensik, finishing the clay-court semifinal in just over three hours.

"He started playing amazingly in the third set," Zverev said of Mensik. "He really stepped up to another level. But this is a Grand Slam, it's best-of-five set matches. Opponents are going to play better. You have to deal with it ... I did and I hope to play another great match on Sunday."

No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy and unseeded countryman Matteo Arnaldi meet in Friday's second semifinal.

Mensik was attempting to become the youngest French Open finalist since Rafael Nadal in 2006. He will climb 11 spots to No. 16 in the ATP rankings following his performance.

"It's amazing the way he played these past two weeks," Zverev said. "I knew it was going to be the toughest challenge I had so far. I managed. I won. So I'm happy."

Zverev fired eight aces and won 80% of the points (63 of 79) on his first serve while saving three of four break points. He converted four of seven break chances and finished with a 42-32 edge in winners against Mensik, who double-faulted five times and produced 41 unforced errors.

--Field Level Media