Zverev wants to end the world tennis dilemma, but Montenegro still loves "their" Czech

The tennis world, for the most part, wants to end the controversy over who is the best player in history without having won a Grand Slam - it is led by former number one and the first Latin American to top the ATP list, Chilean Marcelo Rios, and active tennis player from Germany, Alexander Zverev.

The Chilean has long since ended his career, while the unexpected outcome of the previous Roland Garros - the injury and withdrawal of champion Carlos Alcaraz, problems with the enormous temperatures and the eliminations of Janik Siner and Daniil Medvedev, and the insufficiently prepared Novak Djokovic, gave Zverev the status of absolute favorite.

He has reached the finals of Grand Slams, has Olympic gold, the final ATP tournament and the only missing link is the title of Grand Slam champion. In addition, the fact that Zverev has been battling diabetes since the age of five has turned the sympathy of the entire world public towards him. But also the pressure - now or never!

Or, almost the entire public - his rival in the first semi-final today at 2:30 p.m. at "Šatrije" will be 21-year-old Czech Jakub Menšik, in love with Montenegro.

"I fly when I'm here. Montenegro, you are the one and only! I'll fly to you again," the Czech boy wrote four years ago, after training with his host in Portonova, Djokovic.

Menshyk collapsed to the ground after a grueling second-round super tiebreak with Argentinian Mariano Navone, unable to get up and say goodbye to his opponent. Heatstroke surprisingly quickly became a thing of the past, as he then managed to outplay Australian Alex de Minor, Russian Andrei Rublev, and then the super-talented Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who was only a year younger, whom he eliminated in three sets.

Menšik should not be underestimated, after all, he is the only one, besides his idol Đoković, who managed to beat the number one player this season, Siner (Doha). The elimination of the number one favorite in Paris was not the result of a good game by his rival Serundolo, but a heat stroke that the young man from Northern Italy was unable to cope with (Siner led 2:0 and served for 6:1 in the third).

This season, Zverev defeated Menshick in the round of 16 in Madrid after a three-set battle, but the conditions in Paris are different, and the Czech's level of play has been rising from match to match.

After all, last year, the Czech celebrated in the final of the Miami Masters against his mentor and idol Djokovic, and the injuries that followed are a thing of the past.

Then, at around 19 pm, the first-ever Italian semi-final at Roland Garros will begin, with the favorite being 24-year-old Flavio Cobolli, the 14th seed, against his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi, who is a year older than him and is ranked 104th on the ATP list.

Arnaldi secured his place in the main draw of Roland Garros by winning the challenger in Italy before the start of Roland Garros, and then won several epic matches, and by the semifinals, no one had ever spent more hours on the court than him.

The rating and the fatigue of the rival are an advantage for Coboli, who, however, lost his first match against Arnaldi, but was 14 years old at the time. The two have known each other and been friends, so to speak, since childhood. Just before his first professional football contract with Roma, Coboli decided to decide on his sports career himself. He chose tennis and he was not wrong!

Proof of this was his great match against Djokovic, who he won a set against at Wimbledon last year and received great praise from the best in history.