By Julien PretotParis ― Alexander Zverev continued his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title as he recovered from a shaky start to brush aside Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar 7-6(3) 6-1 6-3 and reach the French Open semifinals on Tuesday.The German second seed, who has a golden chance of finally claiming a major title in the absence of the injured Carlos Alcaraz and with both world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic eliminated, rallied back from a break down in the opening set to book his place in the last four at Roland Garros for the fifth time in the past six years.He will next face Czech Jakub Mensik or Brazil’s Joao Fonseca for a place in the final.Asked if he was happy to be in the semifinals again, Zverev made clear he was looking beyond the last four.“Not really, I don’t really care. I want to keep going, be in the tournament and win the matches ahead of me, that’s my goal,” he said.“It was a very tough test against a very good player.”The beginning of the match between the seasoned Zverev and the much-hyped Jodar lived up to its billing with the 19-year-old Spaniard breaking for 4-2.Zverev, however, kept his composure and worked his way back into the contest, playing a succession of crosscourt backhands to pull his opponent wide. He levelled for 5-5 and powered away in a one-sided tiebreak.The loss of the opening set was too much to handle for Jodar, who faded away and never got a chance to threaten a comeback.Earlier, Marta Kostyuk came through an emotional all-Ukrainian match to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time as she beat Elina Svitolina 6-3 2-6 6-2. at the French Open on Tuesday.The 23-year-old Kostyuk dedicated her victory to the Ukrainian people as tears rolled down her cheeks during the on-court interview.“I want to start with this historical match I played with Elina. We had a difficult night in Kyiv, so many people dead. So I give this match to the Ukrainian people and their resilience. Slava Ukraini,” the 15th seed said.“I want to point out Elina and her impact on Ukrainian tennis, on me and on everyone watching. She’s an unbelievable fighter. I’m so happy to be through, but I want to thank her for this incredible match.”Kostyuk surged into a 4-1 lead under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier before Svitolina clawed a break back in front of a sparse crowd.But Kostyuk broke again to move 5-3 ahead and sealed the opening set when seventh seed Svitolina sent a forehand long.The momentum shifted in the second set as Kostyuk’s serve deserted her, allowing Svitolina, who has now lost in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the sixth time, to level the contest.The decider turned into a tense scrap, with the first five games going against serve.Pointing her index finger to her head after finally holding for a 4-2 lead, Kostyuk steadied herself before another break and a comfortable hold secured victory and a last-four clash with Russia’s Mirra Andreeva who beat Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-0 6-3 to continue her run in a Roland Garros draw stripped of many big names.The Russian is now among the leading contenders for a maiden Grand Slam title with defending champion Coco Gauff and four-time winner Iga Swiatek out.Reuters