Home » Alexander Zverev defeats Lorenzo Sonego and advances to the semifinals of the ATP Dubai

Since breaking his ankle in Roland Garros the previous year, Alexander Zverev is having his best tournament. The German defeated Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 52 minutes to advance to the Dubai final four.

Zverev struggled to recover his rhythm and link a few strong matches when he arrived in Dubai in 2023 with a disappointing 3-6 score. After three much-needed victories in Dubai, the German has finally gotten back on track and is still in contention for the championship.

Zverev outscored Sonego by 14 points while hitting 25 aces and controlling his strokes well. After saving all six break points, the German corrected a subpar second serve performance and connected on 82% of his first serves. Sonego was under duress, and although dropping serve once in each set, he was unable to force a decision.

In the tenth game of the second set, the Italian led 40-0 on the return before the German scored five straight points to take the lead.

In Dubai, Lorenzo Sonego was defeated in straight sets by Alexander Zverev.

In the opening game of the match, Alexander squandered a break point with an errant forehand.

In game two, he held off three break points to avoid a poor start and maintain his composure. By a score of 3-2, Lorenzo held after a deuce in game five and then hit a service winner in game seven to maintain the lead. To extend the set, Alexander came back with a hold at love in game eight and a forehand winner at 4-5.

The first serve break occurred in the eleventh game when Sonego made a costly forehand mistake that put him 6-5 behind. On game 12, Zverev served for the set and forced a mistake from the opponent to win 7-5 in an hour. To keep the score at 2-2 at the start of the second set, both players served effectively.

In game five, Alexander entered on the return and smashed a backhand down the line winner to provide a key break. In game six, the former world no. 2 held at 15 to maintain the advantage and advance significantly.

In game eight, Alexander scored an ace down the T line to win 5-3, forcing Lorenzo to serve to win the game. In game nine, the Italian held at 30 to extend play and generated three break points on the return at 4-5. Zverev played his first wayward service game since the beginning of the match, yet he maintained composure to avoid getting arrested.

On the third break point, Sonego blew a huge opportunity, letting his opponent to get to deuce. Alexander earned his first ATP semi-final appearance since June of last year by generating a match point with an unreturned serve and converting it with an ace.