Zverev on verge of Grand Slam glory after beating Mensik to reach Roland Garros final

[p]The 29-year-old, who has lost three major finals, ‌including one at Roland Garros two years ago, ‌has looked sharp in Paris and faces the winner of the all-Italian clash between 10th seed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cobolli-flavio/zDtaCcPe/"]‌Flavio Cobolli[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arnaldi-matteo/hlVLAfZK/"]Matteo Arnaldi[/a].[/p][p]A ⁠tight opening set ‌on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier tilted [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Zverev[/a]'s way ​when he struck a backhand crosscourt winner in the 11th game to ​bring up a break point, and he nudged ahead with a delicate shot that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mensik-jakub/UFj257G8/"]Mensik[/a] ⁠sent into the ​net.[/p][embed guid="186f260d-77b1-497f-b0fc-12bb2231212f" url="https://x.com/rolandgarros/status/2062923318894751956" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]I knew that it would be my toughest challenge. I managed it and I won, so I'm happy[/b]," said Zverev, who ‌became only the fifth active player to ⁠reach multiple Roland Garros title ‌clashes.[/p][p]"[b]It's amazing the way he (Mensik) played these last two weeks, he ​beat so many unbelievable players. He started playing amazing in the third set, stepping up his level, but ​this is a Grand Slam with best-of-five-set matches[/b].[/p][p]"[b]Things happen and your opponents will play better. You have to deal with ⁠it. I hope to ​play another great match on Sunday[/b]."[/p][p]The world number three sent down a powerful ace to pocket the first set and asserted himself with an early break at the ‌start of the second set, as the 20-year-old Mensik's level briefly dipped in his maiden Grand Slam semi-final.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="d3c63c96-7c7a-422d-b816-07d8f999ab36" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="b6b7bac5-22b2-4d2f-ab39-e87a9333bbfc" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Mensik sat with a towel over his head during a changeover, and his troubles deepened after the restart, when Zverev took his game up a few notches and sealed a double break, before ‌comfortably doubling his lead in the match.[/p][p]After a ​long medical timeout for a neck ‌issue, Czech Mensik mixed his booming serve with deft drop shots to break for a 4-2 lead en route to winning the third set, but Zverev powered through ⁠the next with ⁠no drama to ‌prevail.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/mensik-j-UFj257G8/zverev-a-dGbUhw9m/?mid=2FOmfoWO"]See all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]