Zverev overcomes bout of sickness to set up Halle Open semifinal with Medvedev

HALLE, Germany (AP) – Alexander Zverev recovered from feeling unwell in the first set to defeat Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 in the Halle Open tennis quarterfinals on Friday.

“I felt fine before the match and then out of nowhere I felt really, really bad and felt ill,” No.2 seed Zverev said. “I went to throw up and then 15 minutes later I felt okay again. So, I don’t know what it was. I’ve never experienced that before. Hopefully I will be fine the next couple of hours.”

Zverev, who became the fifth player to reach five or more semifinals at the event after former champions Roger Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Tommy Haas, now faces one of his oldest rivals, Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedev knocked out Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-3 to reach his third tour-level semifinal of the season.

“I think it’s the guy I’ve played the most in my career,” Zverev said. “Definitely he’s one of the toughest opponents in my career. It’s going to be a great match and I’m really looking forward to facing him.”

Alexander Bublik and Karen Khachanov will contest the other semi-final.

Bublik, who beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the second round, defeated Tomas Machac 7-6, 6-3 while Khachanov overcame Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2.