ALEXANDER Zverev has paid the price for a trio of French Open marathons, succumbing to fatigue, injury and merciless Dominic Thiem in a lopsided quarter-final.
The second seed’s bid for history ended with a crushing 6-4 6-2 6-1 defeat to Austrian seventh seed Thiem, a pitiless competitor.
Zverev had clung to hopes of a maiden major by winning three consecutive five-set cliff-hangers over Dusan Lajovic, Damir Dzumhur and Karen Khachanov.
But the combined exertion also significantly drained his reserves – and history pointed to his probable demise.
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Only three players in 50 years have survived three five-set encounters here and triumphed – Bjorn Borg (1974), Gustavo Kuerten (’97) and Gaston Gaudio (’04).
Thiem was first to draw blood in the seventh game when Zverev misfired with three unforced errors, allowing the Austrian to punch a backhand winner to clinch the first break.
Renowned as an enforcer, Thiem expertly closed out the set before maintaining a clinical assault on Zverev’s mind and body.
The young German cracked again in the first and fifth games of the second set and it was also clear his movement was compromised.
Before serving in the fifth game, Zverev requested a trainer and had his left hamstring strapped.
He battled on and, with limited mobility, conceded his serve again in the first game of the third set.
Glancing anxiously towards his father and coach Alexander Zverev senior, the world No 3 refused to surrender – despite being jeered by a moronic element on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
But the spindly baseliner could not escape his fate despite courageously soldiering to the finish line, anxious not to deflect from Thiem’s victory.
He saved two match points before Thiem nudged a backhand – his 25th winner – into open court to advance after 110 minutes.
Thiem will contest his third consecutive semi here against either Novak Djokovic or Italian bolter Marco Cecchinato for a place in Sunday’s final.
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