Zverev Reaches Fifth Roland-Garros Semifinal In Six Years With Jodar Victory

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 2, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who played in the French Open championship match two years ago, moved one step closer to reaching the Roland-Garros final for a second time Tuesday afternoon.

Facing first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Rafael Jodar, the 29-year-old German tamed the World No. 29 from Spain, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3, in two hours and 10 minutes under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier due to earlier rain that blanked Stade Roland-Garros.

After getting off to a slow start in the open set, down 2-5, the second-seeded Zverev regrouped in time to pull out the first set in a tie-break and went on to dominate much of the remainder of the match. He faced very little difficulty on his serve. Zverev secured match point on his first try with a sixth-shot exclamation point. His forehand winner put away the quarterfinal victory. The win advanced him to an ATP Tour-best seventh semifinal of the season.

“That, folks, is the way you want to end a match,” TNT Sports commentator John McEnroe said. “I’d say relief more than joy with all the pressure to win this. But at the end of the day, he started to bring his ‘A’ game.”

Added TNT Sports commentator Mary Jo Fernandez on Zverev’s court level and demeanor: “I thought this was Zverev’s best match of the tournament. I really felt that even though he started a little bit tentative, once he got the break back [in the first set] his serving was outstanding and he started hitting the ball bigger. … I was very impressed with how he turned it around. … He handled the moment, he handled the pressure.”

Zverev won 71 percent (51 of 72) of his first-serve points, hit 35 winners to 35 unforced errors, converted five of 11 break points and outpointed Jodar 107-85. Jodar struck 22 winners and committed 29 unforced errors. He broke Zverev’s serve once in six opportunities.

The victory improved Zverev’s 2026 win-loss record to 33-9 (18-4 on clay), while Jodar dropped to 24-10 (19-4 on clay). 

“I want to keep going, of course. I want to be in the tournament and I want to win the matches that are ahead of me,” Zverev said during his on-court interview. “That’s my goal, that’s my aim. I feel that today was a very tought test against a very good player. I managed, I won and, of course, I’m happy to be in the semifinals.”

In reaching his fifth Roland-Garros semifinal in the last six years – his lone loss prior came against Novak Djokovic in last year’s quarterfinals – Zverev, the highest-ranked player remaining in the men’s draw, became just the ninth man in the Open Era to reach five quarterfinals at the French Open. He’s dropped just one set through the first five rounds of the Parisian fortnight.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Jodar, who began the year ranked 168th, has been a trailblazer this year – especially on clay, where he won his first ATP Tour at Marrakech and was a quarterfinalist at Madrid and Rome and a semifinalist at Barcelona. In moving up into the Top 30 last month as the No. 27 seed at Roland-Garros, Jodar came within one victory of becoming the first man to reach the Roland-Garros semifinals in his tournament debut since Rafael Nadal became champion in 2005.

“He had perfect rhythm in the first set and I didn’t,” Zverev said of Jodar, during his on-court interview. “My balls were very short and I was very defensive. The conditions [under the roof] were completely different. The string tension was different; the way the ball reacted off the ground was different. The ball was not bouncing as high, so heavy topspin was not really beneficial, and I had to flatten my shots out a little bit more.

“He was playing amazingly and outplayed me in the beginning of the first set, but I managed to come back and he played a little bit of a nervous game when he served for it. Then I took my chances well and after that it was a good match for me.”

In Friday’s semifinal round, Zverev will face either No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia or No. 28 seed Joao Fonseca of Brazil, who play later Tuesday evening.

The 19-year-old Fonseca, who has already captured victories against 24-time major champion Djokovic – who is a three-time French Open champion – and two-time former Roland-Garros finalist Casper Ruud, takes on 20-year-old Mensik in the youngest Roland-Garros men’s quarterfinal since Rafael Nadal, 20, defeated Djokovic, 19, in 2006. Mensik seeks to become the youngest Czech Grand Slam men’s singles semifinalist in history.

Andreeva dominates Cirstea to advance

No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva needed just 56 minutes to defeat 18th seed Sorana Cirstea and reach her second Roland-Garros semifinals in three years. 

In the first quarterfinal match of the day with the roof closed on Court Philippe-Chatrier due to rain, which pitted the 18-year-old Andreeva and Cirstea, 36 – a matchup that represented the largest age gap in a women’s singles Grand Slam quarterfinal since Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati met in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1991 – the eighth-seeded Russia dominated her Romanian opponent from first ball to last ball.

Andreeva garnered her 34th victory of the season – most on the WTA Tour – and it was her 20th win in her last 23 matches. She won 74 percent (23 of 31) of her first-serve points, compared to just 48 percent (13 of 27) by Cirstea. Andreeva hit 18 winners, made 17 unforced errors and converted six of six break-point opportunities. She outpointed Cirstea 56-27 to move into the semifinal round.

“Last time I played against Sorana, it was an incredibly tough battle,” Andreeva said during her on-court interview. “Every practice that we have is also very tough. We have practiced together maybe ten times already this year. I knew that this match wouldn’t be easy and that I would need to put 200 percent of my focus in today because I knew that she would use every opportunity that so would find to play aggressive.

“I’m super happy that I was able to do it first and try to play aggressively throughout the whole match. I never learned how to play or which decisions to choose on the court. I was always super excited to play games. I felt like everyone was reading the game, I never knew that it was something special.”

Kostyuk wins historic all-Ukrainian quarterfinal

On Thursday, Andreeva will face No. 15 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who outlasted fellow Ukrainian and seventh seed Elina Svitolina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, in one hour and 49 minutes. She won 13 of the final 14 points of the quarterfinal played on Court Philippe-Chatrier with the roof closed due to rain.

The victory in the first all-Ukrainian quarterfinal in Grand Slam history extended Kostyuk’s winning streak to 17 straight – including titles at Rouen and Madrid – and it advanced her to her first major semifinal. She defeated Andreeva to win the WTA 1000 title at Madrid last month.

At age 23, Kostyuk has become the first Ukrainian woman to reach the last four at Roland-Garros in the Open Era. She’s just the third major semifinalist from Ukraine following Svitolina and Dayana Yastremska. Meanwhile, Svitolina, a semifinalist at each of the other Grand Slams, falls to 0-6 in Roland-Garros quarterfinals.

Kostyuk finished with 33 winners to 37 unforced errors, compared with 23 winners and 25 unforced errors for Svitolina. She converted six of 11 break points and outpointed Svitolina 84-75.

Fighting back tears, Kostyuk began her emotional on-court interview by dedicating her win to her country, which remains at war with Russia. Her victory came the day after a devasting Russian attack across Ukraine, which left at least 18 people dead. She also paid tribute to Svitolina, the most accomplished Ukrainian tennis player in WTA history.

“We had a very difficult night again in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv, with so many people dead. I want to give this match to the Ukrainian people and their resilience,” Kostyuk said.

“And, of course, I want to point out Elina and her incredible impact on Ukrainian tennis, Ukrainians and on me and everyone who is watching.”

Kostyuk improved to 2-1 against Svitolina, whom she lost to as a 15-year-old playing in the first Grand Slam of her career at the 2018 Australian Open. The loss ended the Rome champion Svitolina’s winning streak at 10.

Around the French Open

• In women’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States advanced to the semifinals with a 71-minute 6-1, 6-3 victory over Magali Kempen of Belgium and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Next, Siniakova and Townsend will face No. 4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowksi of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, who defeated No. 11 seeds Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia, 6-4, 7-5, in one hour and 52 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

• In men’s doubles, No. 5 seeds Simone Bolleli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy advanced to the semifinal round with a come-from-behind 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (12) victory over Petr Nouza of Czechia and Neil Oberleitner of Austria in two hours and 40 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. 

Tuesday’s Roland-Garros results

Wednesday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

• With Alexander Zverev‘s quarterfinal victory over Rafael Jodar on Tuesday, he’s the ninth man in Open Era to reach five Roland Garros semifinals. He’s also the only man to reach both Australian Open and Roland-Garros semifinals this season.

• With Mirra Andreeva‘s victory over Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday, it was her 16th win at Roland-Garros – surpassing Coco Gauff as the teenager with the most French Open singles match wins this decade.

• With Matteo Arnaldi‘s five-hour, 26-minute five-set victory over Frances Tiafoe early Tuesday morning, it marked the first time that three Italian men had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal together in the Open Era. Joining Arnaldi with victories earlier in the day were Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli.

• With Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik reaching this year’s Roland-Garros quarterfinal round, they are the first trio aged 20-and-under to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event since 1994 at Roland-Garros with Hendrik Dreekmann (19), Andrei Medvedev (19) and Alberto Berasategui (20).

“Quotable …”

“I’m very happy that I found a way. It was very difficult in the first two sets.

“I wasn’t aggressive enough and then I found rhythm and I was struggling a little bit.

“I was very happy that I committed to it. I was thinking about how I wanted to play if I wanted to win the tournament here. 

“This was the answer and it worked. I still think it’s very far. I still have two matches to play.”

– Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, during her on-court interview after defeating fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina to reach her first major semifinal.

 

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