Zverev smashes Mannarino in Montpellier, secures semifinals

Alexander Zverev shook off the Australian Open disappointment with a strong couple of showing in Montpellier taking down Mannarino 6-1 6-0 in 49 minutes.

The German defeated McDonald in the previous round and he proved even better against Mannarino in the quarterfinal as the Frenchman had no chance. Mannarino was a tricky matchup for Zverev and always pushed the German to the limits but lately, Zverev has found the winning formula.

The conditions in Montpellier favour both players but more so Zverev as he is able to unleash his first serve. For the German, serving well is paramount and that was the case in this match. Limiting the number of double faults is another thing and once again he had no issues there.

When play developed, Zverev simply dominated the rallies as Mannarino was off from the start. Too many mistakes and too passive play from the Frenchman allowed Zverev to do pretty much what he wanted in this matchup. He had plenty of chances to do damage as Mannarino was serving quite poorly leaving himself vulnerable on his 2nd serve.

Zverev destroyed him on his 2nd serve cruising to a 6-1 finish in the first set. The 2nd set was pretty much the same as they won it with 6-0. Zverev won 86 % of the 2nd serve rallies on Mannarino's serve and that proved more than enough to secure the win.