Carlos Alcaraz's rise the best thing that's happened to Alexander Zverev, says John McEnroe after French Open clash

John McEnroe believes the rise of Carlos Alcaraz was the “best thing” that has happened to Alexander Zverev after he beat the Spaniard to reach the French Open semi-finals. Alcaraz, 19, has seemed to be on a trajectory this year to move ahead of Zverev and become one of the main challengers to Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev at Grand Slams.

Ad/> However, after losing to Alcaraz in the Madrid Open final, Zverev hit back in the French Open quarter-finals with a pulsating four-set win. /> Roland-Garros'Unbelievable, awesome' — McEnroe, Wilander and Henman react to Zverev beating Alcaraz33 MINUTES AGO McEnroe thinks all the talk around Alcaraz leading into the tournament was beneficial for Zverev.

“The best thing that happened to Zverev was Carlos, it took a lot of the pressure off him,” said the seven-time Grand Slam champion on Eurosport. “Who are we talking about? We are talking about [Rafael] Nadal after his win in Australia, we are talking Djokovic after he was deported from Australia, we are talking about [Stefanos] Tsitsipas because he was in the bottom half of the draw, we talked about Alcaraz, but was anyone really talking about Zverev getting through this far? Zverev beats Alcaraz to reach French Open semis French Open Day 11: Order of Play “I think that really helped him and when he had the point to prove he could step up and do it.” Zverev looked to be heading for a comfortable win after claiming the first two sets on Court Philippe Chatrier.

But after Alcaraz took the third set he then forced a fourth-set tiebreak and Zverev had to dig deep to secure his place in the last four, where he will face either Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. “I have to hand it for Zverev, he played a professional match,” said McEnroe.