ATP | Zverev cannonballs into his second Mutua final

Alexander Zverev showed this Saturday that the seriousness with which he beat Rafa Nadal on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open is a trend and it served him to pass over Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals and get into the final of a tournament in which he was champion in 2018 for the second time, precisely against the Austrian. The 24-year-old German and world number 6 won by 6-3 and 6-4 in 97 minutes and he will look for his second title on Sunday (18:30, La 1 and #Vamos) against the winner of the match between Italian Matteo Berrettini and Norwegian Casper Ruud. “I played two great games, although this is a bit more strange because of the wind and the conditions. In general it was good, but the work is not finished. I hope to maintain the level in the final”Sascha said.

Zverev had not beaten Thiem since that 2018 match at the Caja Mágica and had lost in the last four matches, including the painful defeat in the US Open final, where he had clear chances of winning his first Grand Slam. But the one that was released was the fourth in the ranking, which had a record against the Teuton of 8-2 (8-3 now). “He served very well, at 227, 228 and you can't do much like that. It was better. I totally accept it. In any case I am happy with the week that I have done. I didn't expect to perform like this, “Dom consoled himself.

More was expected from a match that was played in a suitable place for both, since it is the 1,000 Masters that has historically been best given to both in terms of results and percentage of victories. Thiem was a finalist twice (2017 against Nadal and 2018) and another semi-finalist (2019 against Djokovic), while Zverev has reached at least the quarterfinals in his four appearances. But the tennis player from Hamburg charged the pace with his serves at speeds that were sometimes around 230 km / h and he handled exchanges well with the parallel backhand, whose explosiveness increased at will with astonishing ease.

Late reaction

In the first set he lost just nine points on his serve and easily held a break advantage from the fourth game. In the second heat he threatened to ventilate the crash by the ultra-fast route. With a double break he got 4-1 up, although then Thiem reacted in a last attempt to raise a battle and cut to 4-3. It was too late to destabilize a serene Zverev who wasted no su first chance to close the triumph at the service. Thiem misses another chance to win one of his favorite tournaments.

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