Thiem routs weary Zverev to reach semi-final

PARIS: Dominic Thiem reached his third successive French Open semi-final on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of a hobbled and exhausted Alexander Zverev who admitted he was close to quitting the tie.

German second seed Zverev simply ran out of gas, paying a heavy price for needing three successive five-set matches to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.His Roland Garros marathon also left him physically drained — he needed his left thigh strapped in the second set.

“He is one of the fittest guys on the tour so it was difficult for him today,” said Thiem, the only man to have defeated 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal on clay this year.“I hope we have many more matches at the Grand Slams but when we are 100 percent.“It’s great to reach the semi-finals for a third year but it’s time to take another step and I will do everything for that.”

The statistics made bleak reading for Zverev — he finished with 42 unforced errors and just 19 winners.Zverev said he will undergo an MRI to discover the seriousness of his injury.He admitted he was also close to quitting at 1-5 down in the second set.

“I definitely thought about it, but I didn’t want to pull out for the first time of my career in a Grand Slam quarter-final,” said Zverev.In a tight first set of a match played in overcast, heavy conditions, Thiem converted the only break point off a backhand winner in the seventh game before securing the opener with an ace.

Zverev, who had spent more than two and a half hours than his Austrian opponent getting to this stage, hit 13 unforced errors to Thiem’s miserly eight.A double break took the 24-year-old Austrian to 4-1 in the second set before Zverev needed a medical timeout for a leg injury.

Zverev managed just four winners in the second set.There was no coming back for the big-hearted German who was quickly down 4-0 in the third before Thiem wrapped up the affair.Meanwhile US Open champion Sloane Stephens brushed aside Russian Daria Kasatkina in the women’s quarter-finals to set up a repeat of last year’s Flushing Meadows final with fellow American and good friend Madison Keys.

The 10th seed produced a clinical performance to down Kasatkina, the conqueror of world number two Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier.Earlier in the day, Keys, the 13th seed, reached the semi-finals for the first time by seeing off Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.“I’m excited to play my good friend in the semi-finals, we’ve already played in the US Open final and it’s really good for American tennis,” said Stephens.

The 25-year-old, who was ranked 957 just six weeks before her maiden Grand Slam triumph last year after a series of injury problems, is now into the semi-finals of a major for the third time.

The two players traded breaks early in the match, before Stephens produced some ferocious hitting at the end of a marathon eighth game to give herself the chance to serve for the opening set.She did just that, with the help of a sumptuous backhand drop shot.

The 14th-seeded Kasatkina kicked off the second set with a solid hold of serve, but Stephens broke in the third game with a venomous cross-court forehand and eased to victory after just an hour and 10 minutes of play.

Keys struck 30 winners past a battling Putintseva in an impressive display, but will have to at least maintain that level in the last four against Stephens.

The 23-year-old struggled last September under pressure with the US Open title on the line, losing 6-3, 6-0, but she is confident that performance won’t affect the match at Roland Garros.

“Honestly, the (US) Open feels like it was 12 years ago at this point,” said Keys, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.“I obviously rely on what I learned there and how to manage my emotions and manage the moment, but there were so many late nights and I was so tired. It feels completely different here.”

Putintseva made the first significant move with a break in the seventh game, but failed to serve out the set as Keys found her range.The Kazakh showed great resolve to force a tie-break, though, saving two set points on her own serve.

But the greater power of Keys paid dividends in the breaker, as the American finally took the opener on her fourth set point with her 18th winner.Putintseva fought hard at the start of the second set, but Keys broke through to take a 4-3 lead with a rasping forehand return before confidently serving her way to the semi-finals.