Alexander Zverev reached the semi-finals of the Masters tournament in Madrid. The German tennis star prevailed in two sets 6:1, 6:4 against Flavio Cobolli, against whom he had recently lost.
12 days earlier, Zverev had no chance in the semi-finals of the ATP tournament in Munich, he lost 3:6, 3:6 and suffered above all from weakness in his own serve – but in Madrid it wasn’t just completely different in that respect. The 29-year-old served incredibly well on the fast clay court in the Spanish capital. While Zverev scored eight aces in the first round, Cobolli made four double faults.
Zverev in the first set Fast forward
After 19 minutes, the third-placed player in the world rankings was already leading 5-0. Only with this comfortable lead did he make a few mistakes, eight minutes later he still closed the set to 6-1. After his tough round of 16 fight against Jakub Mensik (6:4, 6:7, 6:3), there were signs of a quick performance against Cobolli, who was far from being able to repeat his form from Munich.
The 23-year-old didn’t give up, started the second round with a successful serve game and fended off three break points. The game became a little more balanced, Cobolli also threatened Zverev, who often went on the defensive, once or twice – and he had strong nerves, despite being 0:40 behind, he held on to make it 3:2.
Cobolli makes a mistake at the crucial moment
What was a very clear affair in the first set now became a high-class tennis match. Cobolli particularly shone with his forehand, Zverev had to work harder and harder to win points, but his opponent did him a favor when the score was 4:4 and made three mistakes in a row that led to the decisive break. Zverev wobbled afterwards, allowing the only two break opportunities, but ended the game after 1:30 hours.
In the semi-finals, the number two seed will face the Belgian shooting star Alexander Blockx, who defeated last year’s champion Casper Ruud 6:4, 6:4 and had previously also confidently defeated Alexander Auger-Aliassime (seeded number three) and Zverev’s feared opponent Francisco Cerundolo. Top favorite Jannik Sinner and Arthur Fils meet in the second semi-final.
