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Madrid (dpa) - Around three weeks before the start of the French Open, Alexander Zverev set a very big exclamation mark with a win against Rafael Nadal.
Germany's best tennis player prevailed 6: 4, 6: 4 in the quarter-finals against the Spanish clay court king at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid on Friday and is thus in the semi-finals of the event, which is endowed with 3.2 million euros.
In the fight for a place in the final, Zverev will meet the Austrian Dominic Thiem on Saturday.
The US Open champion had previously prevailed against John Isner from the USA 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4.
Zverev used his first match ball against Nadal after 1:44 hours and celebrated his third victory in the eighth duel.
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The game on the Center Court in Caja Magica had started anything but good for Zverev.
The 24-year-old received an early break and was quickly 2: 4 behind.
But Zverev stayed calm, managed the re-break immediately and took over the command more and more in the period that followed.
At 5: 4 he took the serve from Nadal again and took the first set after 49 minutes with an ace.
Even in the second round, Zverev surprisingly remained the determining player.
Nadal, who has already won five times in Madrid, looked a little inhibited and did not move as well as normal on his favorite surface.
Zverev, on the other hand, convinced with a powerful game and in the end recorded an impressive 28 winners against Nadal.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210507-99-510789 / 3
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Comparison Nadal - Zverev
Tournament tableau