Staff Reporter.
World number six Alexander Zverev recovered from losing the opening set to beat Matteo Berrettini and win his second Madrid Open title.
The German came through 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 6-3 against the Italian world number 10, who had been seeking his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.
Zverev, 24, had beaten Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem on his way to the final.
Berrettini, 25, saved one match point in the third set but Zverev showed his strength to claim victory.
“It is great [to win this title], especially after losing my last three finals I played at Masters 1000 events,” Zverev said in his post-match interview. “This is definitely special and I just want to enjoy this one.”
Zverev’s victory ended a three-year Masters 1000 title drought for the German. The World No. 6 did not drop his serve en route to his first Madrid crown in 2018. Zverev owns a 15-2 record in Madrid, which represents his best win percentage (.882) across all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
Zverev will now travel to Rome, where he will compete as the sixth seed at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The 15-time ATP Tour titlist has reached two finals in the Italian capital, highlighted by his maiden Masters 1000 triumph in 2017.
“Rome is also an event I like and enjoy, so I hope I can perform [in] the same way as I did here and we will see how it goes there. I feel awesome,” Zverev said.