PARIS, June 5 (Reuters) - Alexander Zverev moved to within touching distance of a long-coveted maiden Grand Slam title, as the German dismantled 26th seed Jakub Mensik 7-5 6-2 3‑6 6-3 on Friday to reach the final of the French Open again.
The 29-year-old, who has lost three major finals, including one at Roland Garros two years ago, will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli for the title, after Matteo Arnaldi retired due to illness ahead of their all-Italian clash.
Long denied by the golden generation of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and more recently by young guns Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Zverev will look to move into the Grand Slam winners' club on Sunday.
"I knew that it would be my toughest challenge. I managed it and I won, so I'm happy," said Zverev, who became only the fifth active player to reach multiple Roland Garros finals.
"It's amazing the way he (Mensik) played these last two weeks, he beat so many unbelievable players. He started playing amazing in the third set, stepping up his level, but this is a Grand Slam with best-of-five-set matches.
"Things happen and your opponents will play better. You have to deal with it. I hope to play another great match on Sunday."
TIGHT SET
A tight opening set on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier tilted Zverev's way when he struck a backhand crosscourt winner in the 11th game to bring up a break point, and he nudged ahead with a delicate shot that Mensik sent into the net.
The world number three sent down a powerful ace to pocket the first set and asserted himself with an early break at the start of the second set, as the 20-year-old Mensik's level briefly dipped in his maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
Mensik sat with a towel over his head during a changeover and his troubles deepened after the restart, when Zverev took his game up a few notches and sealed a double break, before comfortably doubling his lead in the match.
After a long medical timeout for a neck issue, Czech Mensik mixed his booming serve with deft drop shots to break for a 4-2 lead en route to winning the third set, but Zverev powered through the next with no drama to prevail.
"Today's match had a lot of stories," Mensik said. "Of course, Sascha is a very tough guy on the court. I mean, he's not giving you any free points. It's very tough to find the rhythm, especially when he's staying so far back, and you feel like you're hitting a wall.
"It was difficult to get into my zone. I had my game plan ... it was super tough to choose the right shots. There were good moments, and of course worse moments in that match."
VIRAL ILLNESS
As the dust settled on the absorbing clash, French Open organisers said Cobolli would go through to his first major title clash after Arnaldi withdrew with a virus.
"It's not what I wanted to do," Arnaldi told reporters. "Last night I started to feel unwell and then at dinner I started to feel so-so in my stomach and I woke up at 1 am and started vomiting.
"It made no sense for me to play, out of respect for him. It would not have been a good match."
Cobolli said Arnaldi's pullout had also left him emotional.
"It was tough for me," Cobolli added. "When he came to me (with the news) an hour ago, I almost cried. I have a lot of respect for him and he's an inspiration for a lot of us."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, Julien Pretot and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
