ATP Masters Madrid: Zverev wins against Nadal - in the semifinals against Thiem
Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid with his first success on ashes against Rafael Nadaland played against Dominic Thiem on Saturday after 6-4 and 6-4 .
by Jens Huiber
last edit: May 07, 2021, 05:17 pm
Milestone for Alexander Zverev: Not so much the fact that the Madrid winner from 2018 reached the semifinals again three years later. No, with the 6: 4 and 6: 4 against landlord Rafael Nadal, he defeated the Spaniard for the first time on his very own track, the sand. On the balance sheet with Nadal, the German number one shortened to 3: 5 victories with the success in the Caja Magica.
The match did not start well for Zverev: Nadal made the first break, took the lead 4-2. After that, the native of Hamburg won four games in a row, serving to 6: 4. The statistics in the first sentence spoke a clear language: Zverev posted a dozen winning strokes, Nadal only two.
Zverev in the semifinals against Thiem
Zverev also had the first break ball in the second set, Nadal fended off with a risky stop in the third game. A few moments later, however, Zverev nailed a forehand longline to break the 3: 2 into the field. And thus silenced the audience, who of course were on the side of the local hero and record winner Nadal. It didn't matter anymore that Zverev missed two more chances when Nadal served to make it 5-2.
Dominic Thiem is now waiting in the semifinals. The Austrian showed an impressive performance in his first tournament since mid-March against John Isner from the middle of the second set, winning 3: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 4. Against Zverev, Thiem lost the final in Madrid in 2018, but in an internal comparison, the reigning US Open champion leads 8: 2.
Here the single tableau in Madrid
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