Zverev to face Thiem in first Grand Slam quarterfinal

Alexander Zverev is through to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal after his third successive five-set victory at the French Open.

The German second seed came back from two sets to one down for the third match in a row to beat Russia’s Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 6-3 in round four.

At 21, Zverev is the youngest men’s quarterfinalist at Roland Garros since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.

And the world No.3 insisted he will be physically ready when he takes on Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem in a blockbuster clash on Tuesday.

“This is not the end. This is the quarterfinals,” said Zverev.

“I’m in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. If you’re mentally fatigued, then something is wrong with you.

“Without you, I don’t think I’m getting through those matches. The energy that you give us players, it’s such a joy to play in front of you all. All the time you’re so loud, so energetic. We as players love it, me especially.”

-Sascha Zverev on the #RG18 crowd pic.twitter.com/GPlbajDOmZ

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2018

“Physically, obviously it’s not easy to play back-to-back five-set matches, but I will manage it somehow. I will do everything I can to recover. I will make sure to be ready in two days’ time.”

Zverev had staged similar comebacks against Dusan Lajovic and Damir Dzumhur in the previous rounds, and was in real danger once again when he faced two break points early in the fourth set.

He clung on, however, producing his best tennis of the match in the latter stages to finish with 63 winners and 17 aces.

Thiem impressed in a  6-2 6-0 5-7 6-4 triumph over Japanese 19th seed Kei Nishikori as he looks to improve on semifinal finishes in the last two years in Paris.

The Austrian leads Zverev 4-2 in career meetings but lost their most recent encounter in the Madrid final last month.

“It’s the match, especially in Germany and Austria, everybody was hoping for,” said Thiem.

“So I think we can make it legendary and that would be very nice.”

Novak Djokovic is through to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since Wimbledon last year following a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Spanish 30th seed Fernando Verdasco.

Djokovic is seeded 20th in Paris after a year of injury and patchy form, but finally appears to be a threat for the biggest prizes once again.

It is the ninth year in succession that the 12-time Grand Slam champion has reached the last eight at Roland Garros.

“I’m just taking it one match at a time, and right now, considering I played almost four hours in my last match, I felt pretty good physically today,” said Djokovic, French Open champion in 2016.

“I had no problems to go the distance in long rallies and I won in the three sets against a player who is in form, especially for this surface. So that’s all positives for now.”

The Serb’s opponent in the last eight will be unseeded Italian Marco Cecchinato, the world No.72, who upset Belgian seventh seed David Goffin 7-5 4-6 6-0 6-3.

“Maybe it’s a dream,” said Cecchinato, who had never won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam before arriving in Paris.