Exposed several times on the forehand side, Zverev surrendered his first break of the match to a superb backhand passing shot down the stretch as Davidovich Fokina took the semi-final to a deciding set.
Zverev trailed 2-0 in the third set and was unable to regain control of the tie as the 25th seed advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final since 2022.
Having failed to replicate the performance that gave him a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals, Zverev said he had struggled since his fourth-round win over Alexander Bublik ended in a third-set tie-break.
“First of all, I’m not a robot, I’m a human being, I’m tired,” Zverev said. “After the US Open I had one day off in total. I think I played a lot of tennis, which is very, very positive because it means I played well.
“I think even here I had some tough matches. Personally, I feel like I’ve been pretty flat since the Bublik match, because I was losing energy.
“I played a phenomenal match against Alex de Minaur, but today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set, I was flatter, I wasn’t reacting very well. I was coming back pretty bad.
“We are all human beings, even the best players in the world.”
His semifinal loss was a disappointing exception to a brilliant season for Zverev, who won the first Grand Slam title of his career at Roland Garros in June before winning a second at the US Open in September.
Davidovich Fokina will face fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the final on Sunday.
Gn sports
