Final Preview: Zverev To Play Berrettini For Madrid Title
Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini will face off in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday with Zverev seeking his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title and Berretini looking to win his first.
While Berrettini has been in five ATP Tour finals, winning four of them, this will be his biggest final.
“When you’re about to play, you’re just thinking that you’re playing a final,” Berrettini said. “Obviously, I was in the semis [at the] US Open. Everything is different, but it’s just a great feeling. Especially, after the struggle after my injury, I think I worked really hard. I’m maybe even more happy.”
ATP Masters 1000 Title Leaders (Active Players)
| Player | Titles |
| Novak Djokovic | 36 |
| Rafael Nadal | 35 |
| Roger Federer | 28 |
| Andy Murray | 14 |
| Alexander Zverev | 3 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 3 |
| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 2 |
Zverev, who won the Madrid title in 2018, has yet to drop a set this week. The 23-year-old last won a clay-court title in Geneva in 2019, and if he wins on Sunday, it will mark his second title of 2021 after taking home the Acapulco title in March.
“He’s playing really good,” Berrettini said of Zverev. “He’s solid; he moves well for his height. He serves well. He beat Rafa and Dominic, probably the best players on clay. It’s going to be a challenging match, but I’m in the finals. I guess the best two guys are going to play each other.”
“He’s been playing exceptionally well this week,” Zverev said of Berrettini. “I saw the end of last night where he won 11 games in a row. He was almost unplayable. He was hitting the ball so hard, serving extremely well. It’s going to be difficult.”
This week, the German has scored wins over Kei Nishikori, Daniel Evans, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem. Friday marked his first win over Nadal on clay and third in a row against the World No. 2. In Saturday’s semi-final, Zverev eased past Thiem 6-3, 6-4, breaking serve three times to end a four-match losing streak against the Austrian.
“It’’s been two great matches for me,” Zverev said of his wins over Nadal and Thiem. “I think today [it] was a little bit of a weirder match because of the wind and the conditions. But all in all, it’s been good. The job is not done yet. I hope I can do well tomorrow.”
Zverev enters Sunday’s final with a 14-2 record in the Spanish capital and a 2-1 ATP Head2Head Series record against Berrettini. All of their bouts have been at the ATP Masters 1000 level and they haven’t played each other since Zverev won their semi-final in Shanghai two years ago.
“I remember that it was tough to return,” Berrettini said. “I remember he was serving really well. The times that we played each other in Rome, obviously they were different conditions, I remember in Shanghai I think the roof was closed, the court was very fast. I guess he just served better than me and I got broken twice. That was it.”
On Friday, playing in his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, Berrettini stormed back for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win over Cristian Garin.
In Saturday’s semi-final, the Italian took out Casper Ruud, 6-4, 6-4 by converting on 2/3 break point chances and facing zero break points of his own. It was the first time Ruud was broken all week.
“I didn’t expect this performance,” Berrettini said. “The key I think today was putting pressure on his serve, first serve and second serve. I was always trying to get the momentum and attacking even his first serve. I know that he likes to have time and run around the forehand. It worked out pretty well.”
The World No. 10 is on an eight-match win streak after capturing the ATP 250 in Belgrade. Though Sunday will be his first ATP Masters 1000 final, he has appeared in five finals, winning four of them.
ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, MAY 09, 2021
MANOLO SANTANA STADIUM start 3:30 pm
[3] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG) vs [2] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[5] A. Zverev (GER) vs [8] M. Berrettini (ITA)