ATP Masters Madrid: Alexander Zverev beats Stefanos Tsitsipas and follows Carlos Alcaraz into the final
Alexander Zverev reached the final at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. The German defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets on Sunday night. In the final, Zverev now meets Carlos Alcaraz.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 08, 2022, 01:09 am
You can read the match in Re-Live here!
The appointment at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid meant well with one man in particular: Carlos Alcaraz. Even if the local hero literally had to go the full distance in his semi-final duel with Novak Djokovic and only bought his final ticket after well over three and a half hours , the Spaniard should still go into the final as a more rested player. The reason: The second semi-final in Madrid was not scheduled to start until 11:15 p.m. local time.
After all, the game in set one was relatively quick for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev. Contested games were scarce in the initial phase, both players proved one thing above all in round one: serving strength. Alexander Zverev, who in his quarter-final duel with Felix Auger-Aliassime proved to be abysses on the second serve, especially in set two, was much more stable on Saturday evening and didn't allow anything at all over the entire course of the set with his own serve.
Zverev with self-fall in set two
In addition, the German had a strong setback game when the score was 3: 3, in which Zverev should also secure the first break in this semi-final with the first break ball of the match. Something like the preliminary decision in round one, which a few moments later - and after just 34 minutes compared to the semi-final duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic - went to the native of Hamburg.
Alexander Zverev was extremely strong that evening, especially on the backhand side, and was able to put a lot of pressure on Stefanos Tsitsipas. In any case, the Greek had nothing to report in the service games of the German for a long time. Up to the score of 4:3. Then Zverev caught up with those demons that had already plagued the 24-year-old against Auger-Aliassime: The third in the world rankings made a number of simple mistakes, and he was supposed to help Tsitsipas make the decisive break with a double mistake. The Greek said thank you and equalized a little later with 6:3.
Zverev beats Tsitsipas on clay for the first time
However, the third in the world rankings did not let this bother him too much, quite the opposite. At the start of the third set, Zverev easily made it 1-0 and then immediately increased the pressure on the server Tsitsipas. With success: After strong defensive work, the German managed the first break in the decisive set. Zverev should not let that go, the 24-year-old showed a highly concentrated performance in round three and finally fixed the 6: 4, 3: 6 and 6: 3 success.
For Alexander Zverev, a negative series against Stefanos Tsitsipas also comes to an end. So far, the German has never triumphed against the Greek on clay court and has all lost the three previous duels on clay. With the successful revenge, Zverev has now bought his ticket for the final in Madrid, in which he will face the exceptional 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. In turn, the native of Hamburg starts the race against the youngster with a positive head-to-head, both previous duels went to Zverev.
You can read the match in Re-Live here!
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