Paris, June 5 (IANS) After losing to Novak Djokovic in the French Open semifinal, last year’s finalist Alexander Zverev reflected on defeat to three-time Roland Garros champion and called the Serbian great an “underrated player”.

The 24-time major champion Djokovic, who has suffered consecutive opening-round defeats to start the clay-court swing, has rediscovered his best form at the perfect time in his quest for a record 25th major trophy.

The sixth seed Serbian did not arrive in Paris as the leading favourite, but delivered a tactically astute display to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and reach a record-extending 51st Grand Slam semi-final.

“I think at the moment he’s a bit underrated, to be honest,” Zverev said of Djokovic. “Funny that you say that, but I think like a lot of people count him out already, but this year he’s had wins over Carlos at the Australian Open, he has had a win over me at the French Open. Forget the age. I think for any player, those are pretty good results. He’s still beating the best of the best, So I think everybody needs to respect that,” Zverev was quoted by ATP Tour.

The last time Djokovic faced Zverev, he was walking off the court solemnly after injury put a premature end to their Australian Open semifinal in January.

But on Wednesday night in Paris — after more than three hours of battle on court Philippe-Chatrier — the 24-time Grand Slam champion rallied from a set behind to keep his quest for a record-setting 25th Grand Slam title going into the semifinals.

“He’s won 24 of these things. I think, yes, I expected him to be able to play like this. I have not seen him play like this this year yet. I think it was very, very high level from him. It was at some point difficult for me. I mean, in the first set when the sun was not completely down, there was still some heat on the court. I could still, I felt like, hit some winners and do some damage with my serve. Then later on when it got really, really cold, I couldn’t really do much,” Zverev added.

Djokovic, who arrived in Paris fresh off claiming the title in Geneva, set a semifinal with top seed Jannik Sinner. Should he win that, and if No.2 seed Carlos Alcaraz tops Lorenzo Musetti in the other semifinal, Djokovic may have the opportunity to achieve something never before done. No man has defeated the top 3 ranked players to win a Grand Slam tournament in the history of the ATP rankings.

–IANS

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