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Alexander Zverev continued his inspired recent form to defeat Rafael Nadal in straight sets and set up a Paris Masters final with Russia's Daniil Medvedev.
Germany's Alexander Zverev overpowered top seed Rafael Nadal 6-4 7-5 to reach his first Paris Masters final and set up a showdown with Russian Daniil Medvedev.
It was only the second time that Zverev had prevailed in seven meetings with Nadal after claiming a first straight sets win over the Spaniard at last season's ATP Finals in London.
I'm extremely happy with how the season continued for me after the (coronavirus) break. I'm very happy with my winning streak," Zverev said after winning his 12th consecutive match.
"The final is going to be difficult no matter what because Daniil is a great player, especially on these kind of surfaces, it fits him well."
Medvedev earned his place in Sunday's trophy match by dispatching Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the other semi-final.
It will be familiar territory for the finalists as Medvedev won his last of two Masters titles in Shanghai against Zverev last year.
"He beat me in the final of Shanghai and it's going to be a very entertaining match but he's going to be difficult to beat," Zverev said.
Nadal was appearing in a record-extending 74th Masters semi-final but the 20-times major champion has not had the same fortune on the indoor courts of the city where he has claimed 13 French Open titles on clay.
The world number two last featured in a Paris Masters final in 2007 and that unlucky run continued with Zverev's dominant display as the German's power consistently pushed Nadal onto the back foot.
After Nadal finally claimed a break back into the match at 4-4 in the second set, he shook his head when a drop shot from Zverev clipped the top of the net at 5-5 to allow the German the final break that helped him through to a seventh Masters final.
Earlier, Medvedev, still looking for his first tournament triumph of the year after four victories in 2019, broke Raonic's formidable serve at 2-2 in the first set and never looked back.
Raonic, who made the Paris final in 2014, had three break points when leading 4-3 in the second set, but Medvedev patiently dismissed them all in lengthy exchanges.
"First set was amazing, second set was much tighter where I had to save a few break points," said Medvedev in an on-court interview.
"It was shaky here and there but really happy to be through in the final."
