16th seed Alexander Zverev takes on John Isner in the Men's singles semi-final of 2017 Rome Masters on Saturday.
The young German stunned fifth seed Milos Raonic 7-6(4), 6-1 in his quarter-final outing yesterday. After prevailing in a hard-fought opening set, Zverev did not look back and decimated the Canadian to reach his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final.
On the other hand, Isner edged past Croatia's Marin Cilic in a match of big serves, that went to the decider after the American slipped in the second set.
Despite having trained frequently with Zverev right from the latter's formative years, Isner has not been able to get past his opponent in both their meetings in the past. At last month's Miami Masters, the world number 24 gave it his all but still slipped 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) in the R32 match.
However, Isner is in better shape to put one across Zverev today after his stunning run in the ongoing tournament - he has beaten the likes of Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Stanislas Wawrinka and Raonic enroute to the last-four clash.
Zverev, on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength on the dirt this season. After falling to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo and facing an early exit in Barcelona, the 20-year-old went on to win Munich and reached the quarter-final in Madrid.
Having beaten the likes of Kevin Anderson and Fabio Fognini, Zverev will be looking to make full use of today's opportunity and book a place in the final. With Rafael Nadal already knocked out, a possible meeting against second seed Novak Djokovic, who is yet to find his peak form this season, might be his best chance to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title.
