After watching Alexander Zverev reach the French Open semi-finals Tim Henman urged him to improve some aspects of his game.
For the fourth successive year, the German has reached the last four of the clay court major after securing a straight sets victory over Alex de Minaur, who played his first Grand Slam semi-final.
He will now face Casper Ruud who reached the semi-finals without lifting a racket after Novak Djokovic withdrew due to a knee injury.
Though Zverev claimed a three set win the 26-year-old was not at his best and this was touched on by Henman during his post match analysis.
Tim Henman says Alexander Zverev must step up in his French Open semi-final
During his victory over de Minaur, Zverev committed 48 unforced errors to just 20 winners, while the Australian registered 28 winners.
His serve, which has been a weapon this season, was below the standard he has set on Wednesday night. Zverev made 69% of his first serves and only won 47% of his second serve points while committing five double faults.
Henman urged Zverev to up his game against Ruud who is aiming to progress to his third successive Roland Garros final.
“When you win in three straight sets in a grand slam quarter-final you have got to be playing pretty well. I think the interesting thing for Zverev is he can play better,” the Brit told Eurosport.
“He can serve a bit more consistently. He can be more aggressive and he still made quite a few unforced errors tonight. It was good enough to get the job done against Alex de Minaur. Against Casper Ruud I think he needs to step it up and I think he will.”
What is Alexander Zverev’s French Open semi-final record?
The French Open is arguably Zverev’s most consistent Grand Slam. He has reached the semi-finals four times, all of which have come in his last four appearances.
In 2021, he reached the last four the first time and came up against Stefanos Tsitsipas. After falling behind he managed to level the match at two sets apiece, but The Greek player held on to claim a 6-3 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 win.
In 2022, Zverev faced the 14-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal in a gruelling battle that had an unfortunate ending.
At 6-6 in the second set, the German twisted his ankle when attempting to retrieve one of the Spaniard’s forehands and was unable to continue.
A year later Zverev returned to the last four but this time was beaten in straight sets following an impressive performance by Ruud. He hopes to reach the French Open final at the fourth time of asking when he faces the Norwegian again on Friday.
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