ALEXANDER ZVEREV OUTCLASSED an error-strewn Dominic Thiem to continue his sublime run on clay with a comprehensive 6-4 6-4 win in Sunday’s Madrid Open final.
Just one week on from lifting the BWM Open, second seed Zverev made it nine straight wins on the dirt to clinch a third career Masters 1000 title – the fifth active player to achieve such a haul.
Thiem had beaten ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal in Friday’s quarter-final, but the man seen by many as the Spaniard’s greatest threat at the French Open was punished for a disjointed display that yielded 21 unforced errors.
Zverev, who earned a first win over Thiem on clay, was a deserving victor and will now turn his attention to Rome and the Internazionali d’Italia.
Thiem was punished for a sloppy first game that ended with the Austrian double-faulting to gift Zverev the lead.
Zverev mixed up his game and offered few sniffs until he had to claw back from 0-30 down when serving for the set, Thiem going long with a forehand to surrender the opener.
A similar pattern followed in the second set with Thiem going wide off a straight-forward looking shot to gift Zverev a break point that was converted when a punishing forehand could only be returned into the net.
Thiem was in trouble again when 15-40 down in game four, but to his credit he fought back to stay in the match with a fierce forehand winner.
But the pattern of the match did not alter and a flawless Zverev coasted through the remaining service games to celebrate a huge win in the build up to Roland Garros.
- Omni
