Mannarino sets French grass record as he downs Zhang to reach ‘s-Hertogenbosch semi-finals

Adrian Mannarino reached his first grass-court semi-final at Tour level since 2023 on Friday, dispatching China’s Zhizhen Zhang 7-6(4), 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

The 37-year-old left-hander, a former champion at the grass-court ATP 250 in 2019, was in vintage form on his favoured surface. Mannarino did not concede a single break point on serve across the match, saving the only two he faced, and struck 12 aces without a single double fault. He landed 68% of his first serves and won a remarkable 89% of points behind them.

The opening set followed the familiar grass-court script of two servers refusing to blink. Neither man could engineer a break, and the set was settled in a tie-break that Mannarino edged 7-4. With the first-set cushion secured, the Frenchman tightened his grip in the second, breaking once and converting one of his two break-point chances at 2-1 to pull clear and serve out the win.

Mannarino moving past Gasquet

Zhang, ranked No. 214 and playing his way back up the rankings, had impressed en route to the last eight, beating Jenson Brooksby and Tallon Griekspoor to reach the quarter-finals. But he found no answer to Mannarino’s relentless serving rhythm and low, skidding lefty groundstrokes on the slick Dutch lawns.

The victory carried particular historical weight. Mannarino became the most prolific French player in the Open era on grass with his 76th tour-level win on the surface, moving past Richard Gasquet’s tally of 75. It is a quiet record that underlines the 37-year-old’s enduring affinity with a surface on which his game – flat, early-struck and low-bouncing – has always travelled well.

It also extended a remarkable turnaround. Mannarino had arrived in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on a nine-match losing streak, eight of those defeats coming on his far less comfortable clay. Three wins later – over defending champion Gabriel Diallo, compatriot Arthur Rinderknech and now Zhang – he stands one match from a final.

His reward is a semi-final against world No. 6 and top seed Alex de Minaur, who earlier defeated Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 6-4. The Australian, the 2024 champion here, leads their rivalry and will start favourite, but on grass, in this form, Mannarino has rarely looked more at home.