Alexander Zverev built good momentum for the French Open as he recovered from a set down to beat Matteo Berrettini and clinch the Madrid Open for the second time.
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Alexander Zverev had lost the first set in a tie-breaker to Matteo Berrettini. The German was in danger of losing his fourth Masters final, having lost in three previous instances. However, he bounced back in grand style to win the next two sets handsomely. Alexander Zverev defeated Berrettini 6-7 (8), 6-4,6-3 to win the Madrid Open for the second time. This was his fourth Masters 1000 title and it capped off a remarkable run in the tournament.
Zverev joined an elite list when he defeated Rafael Nadal for the third straight time. The youngster exacted revenge over Dominic Thiem in the semi-final, having lost to him in a pulsating US Open final earlier. By beating Berrettini, he captured his first clay court title since 2019 in Geneva. For Berrettini, he missed a golden chance to win two consecutive tournaments, having won the Belgrade Open in the previous month.
With the win in Madrid, Zverev is now targeting a great show in the Rome Masters next week. Zverev will be returning to the tournament where he captured his first Masters title in 2017.
World number 10 Berrettini landed the first blow as he broke Zverev to move 4-3 ahead in the opening set, only to drop his service the very next game. The Italian raced into a 5-0 lead in the tie-break but Zverev clawed it back to 5-4 before two set points slipped beyond the grasp of Berrettini. Zverev failed to take a set point of his own at 7-6 and then saved a third, but a double fault at 8-8 handed Berrettini another opportunity that this time he did not let go to waste.
Zverev secured the only break of the second set in game nine, when Berrettini double faulted, to send the match into a decider. The German then broke to move 3-2 ahead in the final set and closed out victory after two hours and 40 minutes with another break, earning his second title of the season after taking home the Acapulco crown in March.
Speaking after the match, Zverev was full of praise for Berrettini. “Matteo was an extremely difficult opponent because I had not faced anyone who serves at 235 km/h. It was extremely difficult to just put the ball back in the court,” Zverev said.
