(Reuters) – Third seed Alexander Zverev produced a near-flawless display to outclass former champion Holger Rune 6-3 7-6(4) on Saturday and return to the Paris Masters final after a gap of four years.
The 27-year-old Zverev, who is aiming to leapfrog Carlos Alcaraz into second in the world rankings ahead of this month’s season finale in Turin, awaits the winner of the semi-final between 2018 champion Karen Khachanov and local hope Ugo Humbert.
Sustained pressure from the baseline helped Zverev to grab the early break for a 3-1 lead in the contest but the German had to work a lot harder in the fifth game before unleashing a couple of booming serves to consolidate it.
The Roland Garros runner-up shrugged off a late double fault to wrap up the opening set on the back of 11 winners at a packed Palais Omnisports in Bercy.
A tighter second set ensued as Rune ramped up the aggression by serving and volleying at times, but Zverev was undeterred and came up with a powerful smash at the net to break the 21-year-old Dane again in the seventh game.
Zverev held his serve to love in the next game to go within touching distance of his first ATP 1000 hardcourt final since a run to the Cincinnati title three years ago.
Rune battled on bravely to level at 5-5 with a break and roared amid loud cheers before edging ahead following a six-deuce game that lasted more than 10 minutes.
After firing big winners on both flanks to force a tiebreak, Zverev took control by racing ahead 3-0 and held his nerve from there to earn a career-high 65th win of the season.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
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