Madrid (AFP)

World No.6 Alexander Zverev won his fourth Masters 1000 trophy, his first since 2018, already in Madrid, toppling Italy's Matteo Berrettini (No.10) in three sets 6-7 (8/10), 6 -4, 6-3 Sunday, three weeks before Roland-Garros (May 30-June 13).

In the previous rounds, Zverev had eliminated Rafael Nadal (N.2) in the quarter-finals, then Dominic Thiem (N.4) in the semi-finals.

This is his second title of the season after Acapulco (Mexico) in March, the fifteenth of his career overall.

The 24-year-old German's previous Masters 1000 victories dated back to 2017, in Rome and Canada, and 2018, in the Spanish capital.

Berrettini, who remained on a success in Belgrade two weeks ago, also on ocher, played his first Masters 1000 final, at 25 years old.

By defeating the Italian, Zverev has chained a third consecutive victory against a player of the top 10, he who had previously had a shy start to the season on clay, with eliminations in the round of 16 in Monte-Carlo and in the quarter-finals in Munich (Germany).

But the tall German (1.98 m) had to fight for 2 hours 40 minutes to emerge victorious from this final.

At the end of an extremely contested first set, where Berrettini was the first to break (4-3) but Zverev immediately reunited (4-4), the two players were decided in the decisive game under the closed roof of the "Caja Magica" .

If the Italian, then formidable with his forehand (22 winning shots out of his 32 in total) and more inclined to go up to the net, quickly escaped 5 points to 0, his sudden passivity allowed the German to come back to 5-5. The world No. 10 however managed to turn in the lead, on his fourth set point, after 70 minutes of the match, taking advantage of a double fault from his opponent, who had also given himself an opportunity to pocket this round two points earlier.

With three shutouts serving to start the second set, a first Masters 1000 title seemed within reach of Berrettini.

But Zverev held on, became progressively more threatening, when the Italian started making more mistakes.

It is also on a double fault, his only one of the match, that he gave up a decisive break in 4 games everywhere.

In the decisive round, Berrettini ended up paying his too many unforced errors - fifty in total, against 28 for the German.

After two breaks, a first to lead 3-2, thanks to a big forehand error from the Italian, and a last to conclude the game, Zverev won on a final backhand fault from his opponent.

© 2021 AFP