Alexander Zverev is in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome after a win against Marin Cilic in 2017. There the German number one will meet Rafael Nadal on Sunday.
Fifth victory in the sixth match: Alexander Zverev has also prevailed against Marin Cilic in Rome and thus managed a final rendezvous with Rafael Nadal. Zverev won 7:6 (13) and 7:5 after a hard fight and has the chance to win his second Masters 1000 title within one week on Sunday (not before 15:00, live on SKY and in our live ticker). Last Sunday Zverev defeated Dominic Thiem in Madrid.
The first set developed an unbelievable dynamism and tension: Zverev could have brought about the decision in his favour already in the eleventh game, but on serve Cilic missed three break balls en suite. Then took a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, but still had to fend off four chances for the Croatian to win the set. The affair lasted about 75 minutes.
Afterwards, however, Zverev had to be treated by the physiotherapist of the ATP for minutes on the right shoulder and lost his serve at the start of the second round. First break in the match ever. Cilic now seemed a little fresher – but had to accept the equaliser to 4:4. Zverev finally hit with the seventh break chance. And he kept going: After just over two hours, the 21-year-old scored his second match point.
Alexander Zverev has never won against his final opponent Rafael Nadal: The two players met four times, most recently at the Davis Cup in Valencia. There Nadal prevailed in three sets.