Twelve days after the Italian Flavio Cobolli ended Alexander Zverev’s historic dream of a fourth title at the ATP tournament in Munich, the German number three in the tennis world achieved a cracking revenge at the Masters in Madrid. Zverev is in the semi-finals in the Spanish capital for the fourth time in his career; he has never lost in the semi-finals in Madrid.
Alexander Zverev chased Flavio Cobolli across the court almost at will in the first set. The DTB number one scored eight aces and a whopping twelve winning shots, with only three unforced errors. Cobolli, on the other hand, was unable to create a single break chance in the first round. After less than 30 minutes, the number 13 in the world rankings from Italy lost the first set 1:6.
In the second round, Cobolli made a step up. While the 23-year-old suddenly took full risks, especially with the second serve, and was rewarded again and again, Zverev struggled a bit with his service at the beginning and suddenly made significantly more mistakes. However, the Hamburg player remained the player who dictated the pace of the match.
Cobolli owed the fact that it remained close to his strong nerves at important points. The whiz kid, who previously won 16 of 23 games on the ATP tour in 2026, was able to destroy Zverev’s first six break chances in the second set. On the seventh attempt, however, Zverev managed to break to 5:4 and then confidently brought the lead to the finish.
Zverev with a career novelty
For Zverev, reaching the semi-finals underlines his outstanding year in 2026: he has now reached the round of the last four at the Australian Open and all four Masters events to date. A novelty for the German, who has also been in the semi-finals of seven of the last eight Masters. Only in Shanghai 2025 did the 29-year-old fail in round three to the eventual surprise finalist Arthur Rinderknech from France.
However, there is a small downer: Zverev was unable to win any of the seven Masters semi-finals.
Most recently, Zverev failed four times in a row against Cobolli’s compatriot Jannik Sinner, but this scenario will not be repeated in Madrid. A duel with the world number one is only possible in the final. In the semifinals, Zverev will face Belgian talent Alexander Blockx, who defeated Madrid defending champion Casper Ruud in two sets (6:4, 6:4).
In the second semi-final, Sinner will challenge the Frenchman Arthur Fils, who recently triumphed in Barcelona and, like Sinner, is still unbeaten on clay in 2026.
