ATP | Zverev comes back against Berrettini and rules again in Madrid

Alexander Zverev showed this Sunday that he is the most stable of the players born from 1995 onwards, who were or are considered to be NextGen tennis players., whose first campaign was launched by the ATP in 2016. The 24-year-old German and 6th in the world came back to win his second Mutua Madrid Open in the final against another young man of that generation, Matteo Berrettini, who had many options to take the victory, but fell by 6-7 (8), 6-4 and 6-4. The game was longer (2h: 40) of what could be expected by the forcefulness of both. In fact, the longest in a three-set final in tournament history, two minutes ahead of Federer-Berdych in 2012. “Thanks to the Government of Spain, also to Madrid, for making this possible. We miss him so much last year, because you make us feel extremely welcome and safe, “said the champion., which congratulated the owner, the Romanian millionaire and former player Ion Tiriac, who was turning 82 years old.

Zverev has already accumulated 15 titles, four of them Masters 1,000, which makes him the fifth active player who has the most behind Djokovic (36), Nadal (35), Federer (28) and Murray (14). Sascha's tournament has merit, because to win it he had to eliminate Nishikori, Evans, Nadal and Thiem beforehand, and without losing a set. The last two, top-10 as Berrettini, a streak he had already achieved and increased when he prevailed in the 2018 ATP Finals after beating Cilic, Isner, Federer and Djokovic. He needs to win a Grand Slam, although he touched glory in the final of the 2020 US Open against Thiem. Matteo, who debuted in the tournament and made history for Italy by being the country's first tennis player to go this far in the Spanish event, saw his streak of eight consecutive wins come to an end from Belgrade, where he raised the award.

The Caja Mágica recorded its best entry of the week with some 4,500 spectators indoors due to the heavy rain outside to see the fourth consecutive Masters 1,000 trophy that was negotiated between two NextGen in the absence of the Big Three, which comfortably dominated in this category until it lost weight in 2020: in Paris, Medvedev beat Zverev; in Miami Hurkacz beat Sinner and in Monte Carlo Tsitsipas beat Rublev. Time will tell if it is a conjunctural event or a trend that threatens to establish itself definitively. For some, including this chronicler, the show suffers without the magic of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. It is the new tennis, the one that will remain in the future when the stars retire if no one remedies it, that of serves at 230 km / h and continuous blows to one side and the other with some different resources, setbacks cut or left, sometimes doubtfully executed . A choppy game, without rhythm, with little emotion beyond the uncertainty of the result or the frequent tie-breaks. That raises exclamations of amazement at the power, not admiration.

Tribute and alternatives

This was a match that started with a previous tribute to the Madrid health workers and cheers to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president-elect of the Community, who saw him together with the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida, and the tournament director, Feliciano López. The first set, with very high percentages of first aces, was taken by Berrettini after an exchange of breaks, although he was about to throw an initial 5-0 in the tie-break and was saved because his rival double faulted with 8- 8. In the second set, Zverev broke the service of the transalpine to get 5-4 and later equalize the contest. And in the third set, with both failing more than necessary, especially the transalpine (50 not forced), due to the wear and tear of his furious hitting tennis, the one who had the most endurance was the Teuton, perhaps due to his greater experience. He took the lead with a break in the fifth game and not only kept his distance to victory, but closed it off to the rest.

Results, table and calendar.