Alexander Zverev took the first set 7-5 against Jakub Mensik in the French Open men's semi-final, seizing the initiative after a tight opening period in Paris.
Zverev, the tournament's second seed and widely viewed as the favourite to finally win a Grand Slam after three previous final defeats, put himself on the front foot early and will be searched for tonight as the match continues.
The set supplied the proof: Mensik, the 20-year-old Czech bidding for his first major final, rescued three set points during the stanza, only for Zverev to wrestle control at the crucial moments. Zverev surged to 40-0 in one game with a string of forehand winners and later converted one from one break opportunity; he sealed the set with an ace down the T.
There was a clear fault line in the set. Mensik saved multiple set points, yet could not force a different ending — Zverev took the single break he had and turned it into the set. As one former player put it, "For both players, the serve is the structure to their game. It is the pole that holds the tent up. There is a bit more fragility from Jakub Mensik behind that serve." Live coverage noted Mensik saved three break points but Zverev converted his lone break and dominated the defining moments.
Those small margins carried weight. Another assessment ran that when break points arrived for Mensik "it was so quick. Perhaps not securing one of those rattled him," underlining how fragile a late rally can be for a young player under semi-final pressure.
The immediate consequence is simple: Zverev begins the second set with the advantage and the clearer path toward the final, while Mensik must recover from the psychological cost of losing a set he twice threatened to take. Mensik's age and inexperience at this level are part of the story — he is 20 and chasing his first major final — but so too is the fact Zverev has repeatedly shown he can deliver the big moments when they matter.
What happens next is what will decide whether this becomes another near miss for Zverev or the start of a breakthrough: the match continues and Mensik must find a way to break Zverev's rhythm and confidence. The other men's semi-final between Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi is scheduled for not before 18:00 BST, with Arnaldi, world number 104, the lowest-ranked man to reach the Paris last four since 1997, waiting to know his opponent in the final. Can the 20-year-old summon the response required to reach his first major final, or will Zverev's hold on the big moments carry him the rest of the way to a first Grand Slam?
