Jordan Thompson continues his stellar start to 2024 as he defeated world No.6 Alexander Zverev to seal his passage into the ATP 250 Los Cabos Final.
Coming in, the pair had exchanged one win each in their head-to-head history, but the Aussie won the most recent encounter at the Japan Open in October last year.
Off the back of a win against Rafael Nadal in Brisbane, a nail-biting four-set loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open, and two consecutive quarter-final appearances - it’s no secret that Thompson has the confidence and belief behind him.
Down an early break in the opening set, Thompson rallied back to claim the next two all-important breaks and avoid a tiebreak to rattle his heavily-favoured opponent.
A response was always on the cards however, and Zverev ensured that the match would go the distance - helped by his accurate serving and ability to dictate from the baseline.
There weren’t too many spectacular shots to make the highlights reel, but Thompson’s tactic deploying a handful of drop shots had the German on a string for moments throughout the match - producing entertaining rallies for the Mexican neutrals to enjoy as a result.
Neither player was overly troubled on serve in the final set until Zverev was forced to fend off five match points on his racquet at 5-6 which sent the match into a tiebreak to settle the scores.
Thompson recovered after losing the opening point on serve to claim six consecutive points in dramatic fashion and kept his nerve as he prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) in another epic tussle this week.
“It was just a great match,” Thompson said after the game.
“I competed until the end and I really don’t know what to say. I’m pretty tired.”
It comes after Thompson clawed his way back from 0-6, 1-4 down in his quarter-final against American Alex Michelsen, having now been on court for over 10 hours in Los Cabos.
The win means that the 29-year-old will reach a new career-high ranking (currently 36 live) and has the chance to claim $AUD1.3 million in prize money.
Standing in Thompson’s way is former world No.2 Casper Ruud who is playing himself into fine form, only dropping one service game the entire tournament.
This afternoon’s final commences at 2pm AEST and can be viewed on Bein Sports.
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