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German seeks third straight win vs. Alcaraz in Sunday's final
Alexander Zverev avenged a Monte Carlo semi-final loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas with a three-set victory at the same stage on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open. The German advances to face the turbo-charged Carlos Alcaraz in the final following a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in Manolo Santana Stadium.

In a match that largely favoured the server throughout, Zverev capitalised on his first two break opportunities to set him on the path to his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final. The second seed is seeking his sixth title at that level, with his five current crowns the most of any active player outside the Big 4.

After Tsitsipas broke late in the second set on his first look on the return, the German quickly turned the tide by winning the opening three games of the decider. Firmly in the ascendency, he missed out on a break point at 4-2 before closing out the match with his third break of the one-hour, 53-minute contest.


Zverev bounced back from a difficult serving day in the quarter-finals to make 73 per cent of his first serves (48/66) against the Greek, winning a stellar 83 per cent of those points. He improved his ATP Head2Head record to 4-7 against Tsitsipas, earning his first clay-court win over the fourth seed in the process.

He also moved to 8-1 against Top 10 opponents in Madrid, where his overall record is a pristine19-2.

More to come...

2017 champion next faces De Minaur or Paul in Italian capital
Alexander Zverev was given no time to settle in his opening match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome on Wednesday, but the second seed raised his game to fend off a strong challenge from the in-form Sebastian Baez at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The German struggled to find the form that carried him to a 10th Masters 1000 championship match appearance at the Mutua Madrid Open last week, but he found a sufficient level to outlast Estoril champion Baez and clinch a 7-6(6), 6-3 in an intriguing second-round encounter at the Foro Italico.

“I’m [very pleased], especially coming from Madrid to here," said Zverev after his 89-minute win over qualifier Baez. "It’s not always not easy because Madrid is at altitude and the balls are flying like crazy, but here everything is pretty slow. It wasn’t an easy match and I’m happy with the way I played at the end. He played three matches already here, it’s my first, so I’m happy with the win.”

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Despite a disappointing loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid final, the German looked back to his best at times in the Spanish capital after an inconsistent start to 2022 that has left the World No. 3 still hunting a first title of the year. He will hope to use the victory over Baez as a foundation for another deep run in Rome, where he claimed his maiden Masters 1000 title as a 20-year-old in 2017.

Although it was not the most fluent performance from Zverev, the World No.3's ballstriking ability was vital in helping him overcome the stubborn Argentine. The German fired 28 winners to his opponent’s 19, according to Infosys ATP Stats.


Baez came out with all the confidence of a man on a six-match winning streak. The World No. 37 won his first 21 points on serve as Zverev struggled to fire up his return game. The German was also solid behind his delivery, however, with neither player facing a break point in the first set. Despite letting a 6/2 lead slip in the tie-break, Zverev’s extra power proved the difference as he converted his fifth set point with an ace.

The second set looked to be playing out in a similar fashion as Baez continued to give little away behind his delivery, but Zverev belatedly put together a streak of top-quality returns to clinch the only break of the match in the eighth game. He served out without issue to improve his match record in Rome to 14-4.


Zverev was pleased with the way he recovered to seal the first set tie-break 8/6 after letting four set points slip. “At the end of the day I feel like I did nothing wrong," said the German. "I got a little bit unlucky, made one unforced error with my overhead, but those are not easy shots either. In the end you have to fight until the very last moment, and the first set was [very important] for me.”

Zverev’s third-round opponent in Rome will be Alex de Minaur or Tommy Paul.