Zverev cruises past Mensik to reach second French Open final

Alexander Zverev will face either Flavio Cobolli or Matteo Arnaldi in final, after beating Jakub Mensik at French Open.Alexander Zverev moved to the verge of a long-awaited first Grand Slam title as the second seed saw off Jakub Mensik in four sets to reach his second French Open final.The German will face either 10th seed Flavio Cobolli or his fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Sunday after securing a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Mensik on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Man City chair Al Mubarak will ‘say everything’ after verdict on financeslist 2 of 4Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal wins La Liga Player of the Season awardlist 3 of 4FIFA cancels World Cup tickets for about 60 fans who got them for freelist 4 of 4Iran footballers hand passports to US embassy for World Cup visa approvalend of listZverev has endured several near misses at major tournaments, with three previous final defeats, including against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros two years ago.“This is a Grand Slam, it’s best of five, things are going to happen, opponents are going to play better. I managed it,” said Zverev.“I hope to play another great match on Sunday.”But he will be strong favourite against either Cobolli or world number 104 Arnaldi to finally get over the line and lift a Slam trophy.The world number three was playing in his 11th Grand Slam semi-final and his experience showed against Czech youngster Mensik.The 20-year-old, in the last four of a major for the first time, tired as the match went on as his previous exertions in Paris, including two five-set matches, took their toll.Zverev has dealt well with the pressure of being the tournament favourite since the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, in the second and third rounds respectively.He will face one last test of his mental strength on Court Philippe Chatrier in two days’ time, but should at least be fresh physically after reaching the final having only lost two sets in six matches.“Pure emptiness, there’s absolutely nothing in my head,” insisted a smiling Zverev in his on-court interview.