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Madrid (AP) - Alexander Zverev also defeated the US Open winner Dominic Thiem at the Masters Series tournament in Madrid and reached the final.

One day after the victory against the clay court king Rafael Nadal, the German number one prevailed against the 27-year-old Austrian 6: 3, 6: 4.

After 97 minutes, the again strong player from Hamburg turned his second match point.

"I felt comfortable on the pitch," said Zverev on Sky after his third win in the eleventh comparison with Thiem.

At the US Open in New York, the 24-year-old lost in the final in five dramatic rounds in mid-September and still led to a 2-0 set lead.

This time, however, the fifth in the world rankings left no doubt about his strong form and his ambitions from the first rally.

In the fight for his second Madrid title after 2018, Zverev will face Norwegian Casper Ruud or Italian Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.

“No matter who it is against, it's a Masters final, there aren't any bad players anymore and I think it's going to be an exciting match,” he said.

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In the first round, Zverev managed a break to 3: 1. Overall, the Hamburg resident coped better with the sometimes windy conditions than Thiem, fourth in the world rankings. "I'm not an incredible wind player, but I'm glad that I took the chances that I had and could now decide the match for myself," he said immediately after the game and before his evening double appearance with Tim Puetz in the semifinals against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

After 42 minutes, Zverev used his second set ball and stayed focused and concentrated in the second round.

He took the lead 4: 1, but had Thiem shortened to 3: 4 after a service loss.

But in contrast to the US Open final, Zverev no longer gave the sentence management out of hand and showed his usual strength in the decisive moments during his serves.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210508-99-521215 / 4

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