Sawt Falasteen - Zverev 'doesn't care' about French Open favourite tag

With the crushing 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win over the 19-year-old Spaniard, Zverev advanced to his fifth Roland Garros semi-final in the last six years.

The second seed is considered the heavy favourite to win his first Grand Slam title following the shock early departures of top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic last week in Paris.

Zverev has finished runner-up three times in Grand Slam finals, including at Roland Garros two years ago, and knows the pressure is firmly on him in the French capital as he bids to shake off his unwanted title of tennis' nearly-man.

"As I said before, I don't particularly care (about being the favourite)," Zverev told reporters.

"I focus on next match, and I focus on the opponent as they cross the net, and that's the only thing that I can control."

His next opponent will a first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist -- either 19-year-old Joao Fonseca or 20-year-old Jakub Mensik.

"Who do I prefer to play? I don't care at all, to be honest. No, I just don't care. For me, it doesn't matter," the 29-year-old said.

"We have fantastic players that are young on the tour right now, we have a lot of potential on the tour right now. But, again, I have to trust myself, trust my game and focus on my job."

Despite downplaying his propulsion into the position of favourite with the shock results thrown up so far in the tournament, Zverev was forced to admit the elimination of 39-year-old Djokovic had somewhat opened up his route to the final in the bottom half of the draw.

"I feel like the draw opened up a lot on the top half (with Sinner's exit). I feel like in the bottom half, less," he said.

"Of course, with Joao Fonseca beating Djokovic, it's a big match that opened up the draw.

"Everything else is kind of normal-ish on the bottom half. In the top half, of course, it's different."

- May the best man win -

Zverev has only dropped one set so far in the tournament but he came close to losing the opener on Court Philippe Chatrier to 27th seed Jodar, before rallying back from 5-2 down to take it in a tie-break.

From that point on, he accelerated smoothly through the next two sets to bring an end to an impressive debut Roland Garros campaign for the teenager.

Jodar was ranked 707th in the world this time last year, losing in the first and second rounds of second-tier Challenger events in the United States during the 2025 French Open.

The Madrid native told reporters after his quarter-final exit that he believed Zverev was the most likely candidate to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires on Sunday.

"He's a great player. He does everything very well. He has a lot of experience. He has been in these kind of stadiums a lot of years, and I think that's a key that's very important to face the important and the pressure moments in the match," Jodar said.

"I mean, yes (Zverev is the favourite). He has to win two more matches, so yeah, all the players that are in the semi-finals on Friday have the same chances.

"If they are in semi-finals, it's because they have done great results. I wish them all the best, and the best player... at the weekend will win the title."

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST