Alexander Zverev into 35th Career Final in Hamburg, China's Defending Champion Zheng Qinwen into Palermo Final

World number four and defending champion Alexander Zverev reached his 35th career final with a straight sets win over Pedro Martinez of Spain in Hamburg on Saturday.

Top seed Zverev eased to a 6-2, 6-4 victory as the 27-year-old booked a spot in a third consecutive clay-court final after Rome and the French Open.

Zverev now leads the ATP Tour with 44 wins this year, two ahead of top-ranked Jannik Sinner.

The German will face Arthur Fils in Sunday’s final.

He has a 2-0 head-to-head record over the Frenchman, beating him in three sets on grass in Halle last month and in the semi-finals in Hamburg in 2023.

“He’s somebody that is extremely aggressive and he’s somebody that is very young,” Zverev said.

“He obviously has the talent, he has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, and it’s up to him to realise his potential.

“Tomorrow I’m going to do everything that I can to prevent that, for him to make a step forward. But he’s a great talent and there’s nothing bad to say about him.”

Fils, 20, defeated third seed Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-2 in his semi-final.

“It was very hot, so it was very fast and my serve was working pretty well. That helped me a lot today and I don’t know if tomorrow it will be that hot, but I hope so,” said the world number 28.

Zheng Qinwen vs Karolina Muchova

Chinese top seed Zheng Qinwen reached her first final since the Australian Open on Saturday with a straight-sets win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry in Palermo.

Zheng, who is defending the title after winning her maiden WTA trophy in Sicily last year, won 7-5, 6-4 to set up a Sunday meeting with Karolina Muchova.

The world number seven enjoyed a strong start to the year with her run in Melbourne, when she lost in the final to Aryna Sabalenka, but was playing in her first semi-final since.

“Tonight I was more pumped than other matches,” Zheng said.

“She played really well and she has a tough game. She has a really good touch on clay court. It’s not easy to play against her. She has a lot of change of rhythm, variation.”

The 21-year-old took the first set with a hold in the 12th game following a run of three consecutive breaks.

A single break in the third game of the second set was enough as Parry failed to make any more inroads into the Zheng serve.

In the other last-four match, last year’s French Open runner-up Muchova thrashed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-1.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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