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Reigning Mutua Madrid Open champion Alexander Zverev began his title defence Wednesday with a tough three-set win against Marin Cilic on Manolo Santana Stadium.

The German made a slow start in the second-round meeting, but found his range as the match went on. He fired 11 aces and hit his heavy groundstrokes with more authority in the second and third sets to maintain his strong record against the Croatian, advancing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“I thought I played very well. I just lost focus in the first set,” Zverev said. “But I am happy with the win and I am happy to be though. Marin is a difficult opponent, especially with the altitude here, so I am happy with this match.”

Zverev, who also triumphed at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event in 2018, has now won his past seven matches against the 33-year-old, having lost their first encounter in Washington in 2015.

Following his two-hour, 17-minute triumph, the 25-year-old has earned 16 match victories in Madrid, his best record at any Masters 1000 event. The second seed will aim to make it 17 when he takes on American Sebastian Korda or #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.

"It helps to be on this court again. It is always great to have those memories in the back of your mind,” Zverev said when reflecting on his past results in Madrid. “But I have to have this year on my mind and I have to focus on playing well and hopefully I can do that this week.”

The World No. 3 is looking to lift his first trophy of the season in Madrid, after falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals at the first clay-court Masters 1000 of the year in Monte Carlo.

Meanwhile, Cilic was aiming to clinch his first Top 5 win since 2018, when he downed then-World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

German is chasing third title at ATP Masters 1000 event in Spain
Alexander Zverev is into a fifth consecutive quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire from the pair’s third-round clash at the ATP Masters 1000 event on Thursday.

Defending champion Zverev led 6-3, 1-0 in what had been a high-quality first ATP Head2Head meeting between the two when a thigh injury to 20-year-old Musetti intervened in Arantxa Sanchez Stadium.

The World No. 3 led the #NextGenATP Italian after converting the only two break points of the first set in the seventh and ninth games. Zverev now holds a 17-2 record in Madrid, where the fast conditions suit his big-serving and high-powered game. Although the German had to dig deep in his three-set win over former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in the second round, second-seeded Zverev looked in impressive touch against Musetti and will eye another deep run in the Spanish capital as he hunts a sixth Masters 1000 crown.

Zverev’s opponent in his 23rd Masters 1000 quarter-final will be eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or 10th seed Jannik Sinner.

Defending Madrid champ to face Tsitsipas in Saturday's semi-finals
Alexander Zverev's dominant ground game propelled him into the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open as he battled through eight second-set double faults to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-3, 7-5.

"I think this was maybe the best match of the last few months from my side, except maybe the end a little bit," Zverev assessed. "Throughout one-and-a-half sets I played good tennis and I hope I can continue playing this way."

The German defending champion was on course for a routine victory on Friday at the ATP Masters 1000 event, up a set and break with four chances to make it a double break in the second, but a late wobble gave Auger-Aliassime a lifeline to extend the match. After Zverev missed out on that quartet of break chances at 4-1, the Canadian secured his first break of the match on the way to levelling the set.

But the second seed reasserted himself late, creating two match points on the return at 4-5 before closing out the contest with his fourth break of the match to avoid a tie-break.

"I couldn't put a serve in the court," Zverev said, explaining why the match tightened up late on. "I had chances to go up 5-1 in the second set and I think the match would have been over. But I didn't use my chances and he fought back well. But I kept fighting as well, and that's how I got the win."


The German was at his imperious best from the baseline throughout, gaining the advantage early and often in the rallies and frequently closing points out at the net. He broke early and late in both sets, though the two stanzas took on an entirely different complexion with Zverev's late struggles on serve.

Despite nine double faults in the match, Zverev still won 14 of 25 second-serve points (56 per cent), far outpacing Auger-Aliassime's 13 of 34 (38 per cent). Zverev's dominance extended to first serve as well, where he won 74 per cent of points to his opponent's 65 per cent.

After improving to 5-2 in his ATP Head2Head against the Canadian and gaining a measure of revenge from an ATP Cup loss in January, Zverev will now look to avenge a Monte Carlo semi-final loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round. The Greek leads that matchup 7-3, including a 3-0 mark on clay.

"Rafa is on his way back and Novak is starting to gain momentum, but right now maybe he's the best clay-court player in the world," Zverev said of Tsitsipas. "I think I need to play my best level to have a chance, but I'm looking forward to this match because in Monte Carlo he beat me quite easily. I hope I can change that."