Alexander Zverev
entered the top four of the
Miami Masters 1000 for the second time in his career by defeating the Hungarian
Fabian Marozsan
6-3 and 7-5
, 57th in the ranking and one of the big surprises of the contest, in one hour and 37 minutes, in a match in which he received a warning due to the wind.
It was in the second set, when he was about to serve with the score 2-2 and 40-40.
Sascha
, fourth seed, chipped the ball, while waiting for a fairly strong gust to pass, but when the clock that controls the time available for the serve reached zero, the umpire announced: "Time violation, warning to Mr. Zverev."
The German rushed out to protest the ruling. "I'm waiting for the wind, what do you want me to do? My God!" he claimed. "We don't wait for the wind," the umpire replied. "How come not?! I can't serve when there's a 50 mile per hour wind. And I waited for two seconds," the player continued, but it didn't change the judge's mind.
After holding his serve and going 3-2, at the change of ends, he complained again. "I could have done what all players do and threw the ball up to stop the clock, but I just waited," he said.
Despite that moment of anger, Zverev did not lose focus and, although he had to work hard, he managed to defeat Marozsan, who came into the match confident after defeating
Holger Rune
(6th) in the second round and
Alex De Miñaur
in the round of 16 ( 9th).
Alexander Zverev SMOKES at umpire after being given time violation 😡 pic.twitter.com/7ijrc7OTVT
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) March 28, 2024
The German, number five in the world, thus got into the top four in Miami for the second time, six years after the first. In 2018 he beat
Pablo Carreño Busta
in that round and lost in the final to the American
John Isner
.
Only three players had to wait longer than him between their first and second semi-finals in this competition:
Juan Martín Del Potro
(nine years, between 2009 and 2018),
Thomas Muster
(8; 1989 and 1997) and
Patrick Rafter
(7; 1994). and 2001).
Zverev will play his 17th Masters 1000 semi-final this Friday and his ninth on a hard court. He is the fourth active player with the most appearances in that instance, behind
Novak Djokovic
(76),
Rafael Nadal
(76) and
Andy Murray
(33).
His rival for that match will emerge from the duel they will play, not before 8pm in Argentina, the Spanish
Carlos Alcaraz
, top favorite, and the Bulgarian
Grigor Dimitrov
, 11th seeded.
Sascha supreme 🙌
2018 runner-up @AlexZverev edges Fabian Marozsan 6-3 7-5 to reach his second semi-final at #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/cEc4Ol4vMx
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 28, 2024
"I'm happy to be back in these final stages of these tournaments, playing against the best in the world," said Zverev. "I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead."
And he made time to dedicate some nice words to Marozsan, who after his time in Miami, will climb 19 steps and will appear this Monday as 38th in the ranking, his best position.
"If he continues playing like this, he's going to rise very quickly. He always puts pressure on you... I think that when all the top players feel that they have control, they feel that they manage the game, that works a little in their favor. Against him, no "They can do it. That's why he has such a good record in the Top 10 (4-2). He's an incredible player,"
Sascha
reflected .