Tennis: Zverev reaches semifinals in Cincinnati

Cincinnati. Tennis pro Alexander Zverev has reached the semifinals of the Masters in Cincinnati despite breathing problems. The world number three easily defeated American Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-2 in the hard-court tournament with a prize pool of $9.2 million (approximately €7.9 million). The 28-year-old will face French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals on Saturday (local time). "I'm going to get a lot of sleep now and hopefully I'll be ready then," said a struggling Zverev after the match.

Germany's top tennis player achieved a near-perfect first set just a week before the start of the US Open. Zverev broke his opponent's serve twice and led 5-1. The Hamburg native's forehand, in particular, repeatedly caused the American problems. With his third ace, Zverev took the first set 6-2 after 40 minutes.

At the start of the second set, Zverev indicated that he was having breathing problems in the heat and high humidity in the US state of Ohio. "I don't really know what happened. It got worse by the minute," he explained. After a brief conversation with the doctor and physiotherapist, the German continued.

Zverev, however, had less trouble with his opponent. Shelton never found his way into the game, made too many simple errors, and repeatedly threw his racket down in anger. Despite his problems, Zverev continued to dominate against the sixth-ranked player in the world rankings and quickly took a 5-1 lead. After 77 minutes, he comfortably won the match on his second match point.

In the second semifinal, No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy will face French qualifier Terence Atmane. The Masters in Cincinnati is considered a warm-up for the US Open. The final Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season begins on August 24.

RND/dpa