2021 will be successful for Alexander Zverev from a purely sporting point of view. The Olympic victory should not be Germany’s only major victory. In Turin he has the last chance.

Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev has reached the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in Turin, challenging top candidate Novak Djokovic. The world number three from Hamburg secured the victory he needed to reach the knockout round with a score of 6:2, 6:4 over visibly ill Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. As runner-up in the red group, there will be a duel with Djokovic, the record-breaking Grand Slam champion for the fifth time this year, on Saturday.

Zverev is best remembered by his powerful Olympic semi-final victory in Tokyo. The 24-year-old has missed out on the other three comparisons this year with the world number one Serbian, including the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and most recently the US Open semi-finals in five sets. In general, the balance of the two after victories is clear 7: 3 for Djokovic.

Wrong dreams exploded

After losing to defending champion Daniil Medvedev, Zverev was under great pressure against Hurkacz, had he lost he would have been eliminated from the group stage, as in the previous year. With the German’s victory, the hopes of the semi-finals were raised for Italian successor Yannick Sener, who will meet Russian Medvedev, already the winner of the group, Thursday evening (9 pm / Sky).

The only duel in the Madrid Masters on clay in more than two years was won by Zverev against Hurkacz. And on Thursday, the Pole, who was rumored to have sustained an ankle injury before the match, gave up serving twice. Hurkacz actually looked restrained, but he fought with great morals. Since the best German player didn’t really shine, and risked his entire opponent, at least the second set remained even for a long time.