(Tennis news) On Court Philippe-Chatrier, the 22nd seed Alexander Zverev prevailed 6-1 6-4 6-3 after holding off the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov’s serve seven times and saving 14 of 16 breakpoints. Since his horrifying injury at Roland-Garros last year, when he tore his ankle ligaments in his semi-final match against eventual champion Rafael Nadal, Zverev hasn’t advanced past the round of eight by winning four matches in a single tournament.

The unseeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry awaits Zverev in the last eight, making him a strong favourite to advance to the semi-finals in Paris. While Dimitrov dispatched Daniel Altmaier in straight sets on Saturday, Zverev had a tough four-set triumph over Frances Tiafoe in the third round.

Dimitrov gave nothing in the way of the fight as he lost the first set 6-1 after Alexander grabbed a double-break to take control of the tie early on. Zverev complained early in the second that the spidercam’s movement was distracting him, just as Dimitrov was rising up to offer some challenging competition to the German’s service game.

With some deft play from the back row, Dimitrov won a lengthy rally to edge ahead 3-2 before squandering four more breakpoints to make it 5-2. Zverev avoided danger to hold, then broke to tie the score at 4-4 with the help of a beautiful lob. He then went on to win 14 straight points to take the lead. On his fifth set point, the German broke once more, extending his lead to two.

Dimitrov’s troubles persisted as he was broken in the opening game of the third set, quickly falling down 3-0 as the decisive set threatened to slip away from him.

He questioned a line decision with the umpire before battling to win his opening game of the set, and the Roland-Garros audience booed and jeered him as usual. However, he immediately gained encouragement when Zverev committed a double fault and gave up the break.

With a fantastic shot down the line to get within 30-40 points of Zverev on his own serve in the following game, Dimitrov nearly avoided trouble. However, he then committed more blunders, leaving Zverev needing just one more game. The German complied as requested and distributed it to 15.

Zverev said on court: “It’s amazing that I can play the way I’m playing right now. To be back in a quarter-final at Roland-Garros, this is incredible for me.

“Hopefully there is more to come because now I’m here, I don’t want to leave.

Zverev also praised his team for helping him fight back from his injury struggles: “I think I’m hard working, I enjoy the hard work, but without them it would not be possible.

“They get me into the right mindset. For the first six months of my recovery I wasn’t able to walk, I wasn’t able to play tennis. To be back at this level is incredible.”

Also read: Alexander Zverev set face Grigor Dimitrov in the French Open