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Alexander Zverev joyfully raised the golden trophy into the sky and let the confetti snakes fall from the sky onto his shoulder.
Germany's best tennis player has won the top-ranked tournament in Madrid for the second time and has become one of the favorites for the classic clay court in Paris three weeks before the start of the French Open.
Zverev prevailed on Sunday evening in the final against Italian Matteo Berrettini after a hard fight with 6: 7 (8:10), 6: 4, 6: 3 and thus repeated the triumph from 2018.
Close match: Matteo Berrettini was left behind after three sets
Source: dpa / Bernat Armangue
"It's an incredible feeling," said Zverev after winning the title.
“It's a special win.
I just want to enjoy the title now, ”said the 24-year-old.
He converted his second match point after 2:40 hours and won his second title this year.
He had previously won the clay court tournament in Acapulco, Mexico.
About Nadal and Thiem into the final
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Zverev had caused a sensation in the previous rounds with wins against Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem.
"It was two great matches for me," said the German number one before the final.
There he built on his good performance.
But he can't look forward to the triumph for long.
The next tournament in the Masters 1000 series is already on the program this week in Rome.
"It's not easy to go to Rome now, but I also like the tournament and want to play good tennis again," said Zverev.
Zverev and Berrettini delivered a completely balanced game from the start.
The Italian acted a little more forcefully in the first set and also got the first break to 4: 3.
But Zverev held against it, managed the re-break immediately, so that the decision about the first round in the tie-break had to be made.
There Berrettini quickly pulled away to 5-0, but Zverev didn't open up and fended off a total of three set balls.
At 7: 6 in the tie-break he even had the chance to get the first set, but after 1:09 hours the Italian won the first section.
It was Zverev's first loss of a set in the entire course of the tournament.
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Zverev was not deterred by this.
Born in Hamburg, he improved and took over the command more and more.
At 5: 4 he made the first break of the set because Berrettini made his first double fault in the match.
A little later, Zverev made the sentence adjustment perfect.
Relief and joy after the match point: Alexander Zverev won for the second time in Madrid
Source: dpa / Bernat Armangue
The momentum was now with the Germans. The 24-year-old had to survive a small phase of weakness at the beginning of the third set and fend off a break ball when the score was 1: 2. Shortly afterwards, however, he took the service from Berrettini himself and was then unstoppable. Zverev collected 315 160 euros for his fourth title in the Masters category and, with his 15th tournament victory, fueled a lot of self-confidence for the French Open, which begins on May 30th.