Tennis - Paris Masters - Accor Arena, Paris, France - November 2, 2024 Germany's Alexander Zverev celebrates after winning his semi final match against Denmark's Holger Rune REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
(Reuters) -Third seed Alexander Zverev produced a near-flawless display to outclass former champion Holger Rune 6-3 7-6(4) on Saturday and return to the Paris Masters final after a gap of four years.
The 27-year-old Zverev, who is poised to leapfrog Carlos Alcaraz into second in the world rankings ahead of this month's season finale in Turin, next meets Ugo Humbert after the home favourite beat 2018 champion Karen Khachanov 6-7(6) 6-4 6-3.
"I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself, but he (Rune) is a champion," Zverev said. "It's probably his favourite tournament and favourite court, but I'm happy to be in my second final here. I'm looking forward to it."
Sustained pressure from the baseline helped Zverev grab the early break for a 3-1 lead but the German had to work a lot harder in the fifth game before unleashing a couple of booming serves to consolidate it.
The Roland Garros runner-up shrugged off a late double fault to wrap up the opening set on the back of 11 winners at a packed Palais Omnisports in Bercy.
A tighter second set ensued as Rune ramped up the aggression by serving and volleying at times, but Zverev was undeterred and came up with a powerful smash at the net to break the 21-year-old Dane again in the seventh game.
Zverev held his serve to love in the next game to go within touching distance of his first ATP 1000 hardcourt final since a run to the Cincinnati title three years ago.
Rune battled on bravely to level at 5-5 with a break and roared amid loud cheers before edging ahead following a six-deuce game that lasted more than 10 minutes.
After firing big winners on both flanks to force a tiebreak, Zverev took control by racing ahead 3-0 and held his nerve from there to earn a career-high 65th win of the season.
Defeat ended Rune's hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris)
