Alexander Zverev is in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid and will face Dominc Thiem in the final. Zverev beat Denis Shapovalov in two sets.
The semi-final in Madrid between Zverev and Shapovalov was a duel of the new generation. “Sascha” ranks third in the world at 21, while “Shapo” is only 19 years old and on the advance.
Nervousness was not to be seen with both players from the beginning and the service plays were with Zverev and Shapovalov a clear thing for the serveer. The 21-year-old German, who served outstandingly against John Isner in the preliminary round, was also in a good serve mood on semi-final Saturday and kept Shapovalov and his dangerous basic strokes in check.
As in the whole week of the tournament, Zverev took advantage of his chances and brought Shapovalov to his knees at the first break point of the match. A crashing backhand return longline gave a calm, focused and strong Zverev the break to lead 5:4.
Under the eyes of tennis legend Boris Becker, a crashing forehand winner brought Zverev a 6-4 set win.
Munich Champion continued to play strongly at the beginning of the second set and immediately put Shapovalov under pressure. The Canadian, who is the youngest semi-finalist of all time in Madrid, could not withstand the strong basic strokes of the German and gave up his serve.
Zverev’s next service game lasted 1.03 minutes and could not be disrupted. “Sascha” made his opponent look like a spectator and secured the Canadian’s second service game to zero.
With one-way street tennis and a 90 per cent win, Zverev made it into the Madrid and his fourth Masters finals after only 57 minutes 6-4 and 6-1. There, buddy and Nadal-conqueror Dominic Thiem waits, who won against fear opponent Kevin Anderson.