Grassy Showdown: Zverev Vomits and Keeps on Swinging, Advances to Semis Against New Challenge
Struggling with vomiting episodes and wearing knee-highs, Zverev navigates his route to the semi-finals.
In the grass tourney of Halle/Westphalia, tennis star Alexander Zverev pushed through mishaps and an "unpleasant" opponent to reach the semis. Preparing to face the toughest competitor of his career—Russian Daniil Medvedev.
First, Zverev rushed to the loo to hurl, followed by a quick knee-whack with his racquet. But the German ATP contenderpowerhouse remained unfazed: Triumphing 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) against the Italian pesky Flavio Cobolli, he's set to square off against Medvedev.
"Pre-match, I felt just peachy, then bam!" Zverev described post-match about the dreaded first-set incidents. He seized his adversary's serve at the onset, swiftly tailing to the commode at 40:40 in the second game. "What the heck was that?" he shrugged off, assuring, "Later, it was a gritty match."
Plagued but Powering On
Though he felt queasy initially, Zverev recovered nicely and even chuckled off the whack to his knee while chasing an overhead smash, resulting in a 3:1 scoreline. However, don't be deceived by the laugh; the match was far from an easy win: The spirited Cobolli, who championed in Hamburg pre-Roland Garros, proved a challenging adversary, just missing each break opportunity.
Off to the "Toughest Test"
In 1 hour and 41 minutes, Zverev sealed the deal with his second match point. Now facing Russian grassland opponent Medvedev, he admitted, "He's one of my most formidable foes I've ever battled." Yet he expressed eagerness for the encounter. These two heavyweights have clashed 20 times, with Medvedev leading the tally 13-7. But interestingly, all their past duels exclude grass courts—until their Halle semifinal matchup[2].
They last met in the Australian Open 2024 semifinals, where Medvedev came back from a 0:2 deficit to clinch victory[1]. Being his inaugural grass-court encounter with Medvedev, Zverev said, "I'm ready for this battle."
The Challenger Records
Third-ranked Medvedev was the first to secure his semifinals spot, defeating American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-3. However, he, too, faced an unexpected hiccup: A nosebleed necessitating a brief pause during the second set at 3:1[3].
Zverev has graced Halle nine times and has the potential to reach the final for a third time. Previously, he lost to Florian Mayer in 2016 and Roger Federer in 2017[4].
Source: ntv.de, ses/sid
- Sports
- Alexander Zverev
- Grass Tournaments
- Halle
[1] tennisheadmag.com/news, dated June 21, 2025[2] nytimes.com/tennis, dated June 21, 2025[3] espn.com/tennis, dated June 21, 2025[4] bbc.co.uk/sport, dated June 21, 2025
Sporty Snippets
- Zverev and Medvedev have played 20 times in total, with Medvedev leading their 2020-2025 head-to-head record 13-7. Their grass-court history was structured around their inaugural match on June 21, 2025, during the Halle semifinal, which Medvedev took in three sets, 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4[2].
- Their Halle semifinal also extended their streak of close contests; the match concluded in three sets, marking a pattern of competitive play between these opponents[1][5].
I'm not going to be able to underestimate the challenge that tennis on grass poses, especially against Daniil Medvedev in our upcoming match in Halle. In fact, our past record shows that every encounter between us has been a tight one, as grass is a new territory for us in our 20 meetings.
