23:51
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 4: 6
Thanks to this, the Tokyo Olympic champion sealed the set win with a smash winner and a service game to zero.
11:50 p.m
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 4: 5
Impressive: Zverev hits more than 90% of his first serves into the field so far. This is of course a guarantee of success.
11:50 p.m
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 4: 5
It’s really a strong game from both players at a high level. Zverev plays a powerful backhand cross and then makes it 15-0 with the smash winner from the net to the other angle.
23:48
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 4: 5
That shouldn’t have been the case, but this loss of points is not decisive from a Greek point of view. Because in the following rally he sends Zverev far into the backhand again to then make everything clear with a forehand volley winner. The 23-year-old shortened to 4: 5.
23:47
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 5
Ouch! Inside out, Tsitsipas actually puts his opponent in good shape and only has to execute inside in. He wants to achieve that with a stop ball that actually lands off the field.
23:46
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 5
The Athenian does not want to allow a second break without further ado. He takes a 40-0 lead with a serve and volley.
23:45
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 5
And with the Smashwinner at the net, after a short wobble at the beginning, the service game is decided for him without any major problems and he can prevent the re-break.
23:44
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
To compensate, Sascha comes through a too long backhand of his opponent. And then, just after a challenging overhead shot, he also makes the 40:30 by chasing an inside-in winner onto the field.
23:43
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
And then an unforced error follows. Zverev starts to complain and it smells a bit like a re-break. 15:30.
23:42
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
The Hamburger raises doubts about the statement just made, because Zverev produces his second double fault.
23:42
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
The first rally suggests the former. Because the 25-year-old looks very stable, doesn’t make a mistake in the baseline duel until it comes from the other side. And that in a fairly fast-paced duel.
23:41
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
Does the defending champion continue to play his service game so cool or is Zverev now starting to wobble?
23:39
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 4
And after this service dominance in the first six games, things suddenly went very quickly and Zverev got the first break! A baseline shot by his opponent is a little too long.
23:38
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 3
Nevertheless, seconds later there is the first chance to break! A weak backhand volley from the Greek ensures that.
23:38
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 3
And the series broke straight away: at 15:15, Tsitsipas catapulted a more than feasible forehand shot from a good position far off the field. He immediately corrected this slip and gave Zverev no chance with a forehand volley.
23:37
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 3
It’s almost a series: All previous games have been won with one point each for the returnee – i.e. 15. Means: Both Zverev and Tsitsipas have only given up three points on their own serve.
11:35 p.m
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 3
The 25-year-old doesn’t want to change anything about that at first and only slams a cross winner briefly into the field with his backhand. Interrupted by a point loss, he maintains the pace with a smash winner and two service winners and wins the game to 15.
23:34
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 2
Zverev and Tsitsipas only needed 15 minutes for the first five games. This is mainly due to the fact that the person serving does not give the opponent the slightest chance and a break is very far away to date.
23:32
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 3: 2
And again it goes very quickly afterwards: The native of Athens closes the sack very quickly with a service winner in this service game.
23:31
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 2: 2
At 15:15, Zverev did not reach his opponent’s serve and demanded a challenge. Rightly so, the supposed ace wasn’t one, the yellow felt ball landed millimeters from the touchline. The Greek nevertheless wins the subsequent rally.
23:29
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 2: 2
A double fault doesn’t matter that much anymore. The rally to the ball is then spectacular again: Zverev can make everything clear with a smash, but Tstitsipas returns it far behind on the sidelines, so that the rally is restarted – with the better end for the German. 2:2 after games.
23:28
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 2: 1
So far, both players have managed to dominate their own service games. Zverev is also in the lead again with 40:0.
23:27
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 2: 1
Tsitsipas dominated the first rally in the return game at the beginning before shooting a passing shot past Zverev into the side.
23:24
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 2: 1
And the Greek remains dominant with his own service, does not let Zverev find his way into the rallies, so that he bangs the next forehand shot out.
23:23
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 1: 1
The match reaches a high level early on with varied rallies. Tsitsipas goes to the net and can make it 30:15 with a backhand volley winner. Thanks to Zverev’s mistake on the following backhand return, it was 40:15 shortly afterwards.
23:22
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 1: 1
Tsitsipas let the German number one run great! He sent Zverev back and forth with well-distributed punches until a forehand winner could no longer be reached. Zverev’s answer follows promptly: He is chasing a winner placed inside on the sand.
23:21
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 1: 1
Ace number two brings the Hamburger an equally carefree first service game.
23:20
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 1: 0
At the net, Zverev plays a stop ball, which his opponent can still walk, but can no longer get over the edge of the net. The German lets the first ace follow and pulls away to 40:15.
23:19
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 1: 0
With a passing shot longline, Tsitsipas quickly completes the first service game, wins it to 15 and has no problems getting into the duel.
23:15
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Alexander Zverev 0: 0
Incidentally, Tsitsipas had to do more work on the way to the final: he knocked out Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev from Russia. The Greek serves first and scores the first point thanks to a mistaken return from Zverev.
23:12
First sentence
The protagonists entered the stadium from Center Court. They are currently warming up, so in a few moments we can start with sentence number one!
23:09
head to head
A look at the record in the previous encounters between the two rivals does not give German tennis fans much hope. The Greek has won seven of the previous ten duels, Zverev only three. It looks even grayer on clay courts: Tsitsipas won all three matches there. Can Zverev break this series today?
23:03
Madrid history
It has already been mentioned that Zverev likes the Masters tournament in the Spanish capital. Incidentally, the 25-year-old has already won it twice, in 2018 he was successful here for the first time. Today’s Greek opponent “only” made it to the final once in Madrid and lost it to Novak Djokovic in 2019. Will the reigning tournament winner or Tsitsipas reach the final?
23:00
Who will follow Alcaraz to the final?
Earlier today, the first finalist was already determined: The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who had just turned 19, just threw the world’s number one, Novak Djokovic, out of the tournament after the clay court king Nadal. Tsitsipas lost to the youngster on hard court in Miami just over a month ago, who went on to win the Masters tournament – impressive! It doesn’t matter whether it’s Tsitspas or Zverev: You have to survive against this currently furious Alcaraz in the final…
10:55 p.m
Strong Tsitsipas
There can hardly be a much more complicated task on clay than today’s, after all, Tsitsipas won the Masters tournament in Monte Carlo and is impressive with a current record of ten wins from the previous eleven duels on clay. Zverev also gets a good deal of respect, so he compares the Greeks to the two tennis legends who have already been eliminated: “Rafa is on the way back and Novak is gradually gaining momentum, but at the moment he is perhaps the best clay court player in the world.” Nevertheless, the Olympic champion from Tokyo is looking forward to the semi-finals: “I think I have to play my best level to have a chance, but I’m looking forward to this game because he beat me quite easily in Monte Carlo. I hope I can change that.”
10:49 p.m
Zverev’s way to the semifinals
The German didn’t have to put in an incredible amount of effort into this tournament. Although he had to go the full distance of three sets when he entered the Masters in the second round match against Croatian Marin Čilić, in the round of 16 he benefited from an injury-related resignation of Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti after the first set. In the quarter-finals, Zverev did a great job against Canadian top player Felix Auger-Aliassime, whom he defeated in two sets. His own verdict: “I think that was maybe the best match from my side in the last few months, except maybe a bit at the end.” Of course, the third in the world rankings would like to take this momentum with him.
22:42
Zverev loves Madrid
Sascha Zverev seems to be finding his way back to his strengths after his form crisis in recent weeks – and of all places at the Masters tournament in Madrid. Does something ring? The people of Hamburg already experienced a mixed spring last year. The German won the tournament in Acapulco – the place where he made negative headlines this year with his freak out. After that, he showed himself to be in poor form at three tournaments and the beginning of the clay court season – until the tournament in the Spanish capital. The turnaround was successful, after which Zverev played the strongest season of his career to date and crowned it with Olympic victory and winning the ATP Finals. Does history repeat itself at least in a similar way and the Madrid Masters is the real kick-off for the 2022 season?
10:33 p.m
The place is free
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur has just won the final of the women’s Masters tournament, clearing the Manolo Santana Stadium for the final act of the day’s tennis in the Spanish capital: the men’s second semi-final.
10:30 p.m
Warm welcome
Good evening to the German tennis highlight of the day: The semi-finals of the ATP Masters in Madrid will soon begin, then the German number one Alexander Zverev and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will duel for the final.