From the outset, given the logical unease of the local public, orphan of their idol after the defeat against

Alexander Zverev

in the quarterfinals, it could be argued that the first semifinal of the Mutua Madrid Open was the same as the last final of the United States Open, also identical to that of this same tournament in 2018. It could also be stated that the fourth and sixth players in the world were measured.

Attractive, in principle, they were not lacking in the game.

But, without any reproach of attitude to the two protagonists, it is true that the duel was cold, disappointing, who knows if conditioned by the wind that annoyed both players in gusts or because

Dominic Thiem

has not yet found the cruising speed in his first clay court tournament of this season, the first also since losing to

Lloyd Harris

in the opening round in Dubai last March.

Zverev won 6-3 and 6-4, in one hour and 37 minutes, and will play this Sunday (6.30pm, La 1), his second final in Madrid, where he was champion three years ago, also second of the season after winning the title in Acapulco, and tenth of his career.

His opponent will leave the match between

Matteo Berrettini

and

Casper Ruud

.

Against the background

Zverev kept inertia after the victory against

Rafael Nadal

.

He had lost four of the five matches on clay against Thiem and also, in a very painful way, the last between them, last October, in the final of the United States Open, in which he had a two-set advantage, but he asserted the current situation and the only precedent in Madrid.

He saved an early setback with his serve and achieved in the fifth game the break that would be enough to give him the opening set.

The German maintained the vital signs of the tournament, where he has not yet yielded a set.

Powerful with the service, he exhibited greater freshness and once again demonstrated that the conditions of this Masters 1000 are very favorable to him.

His victory placid against a rival short of initiative, ineffective with the service (53% of first) and delayed in his reaction, already with two

adverse

breaks

in the second set.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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