Zverev takes down Nadal in Madrid quarterfinals

Alexander Zverev had every reason to be confident heading into the Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals on Friday, even though Rafael Nadal may be the King of Clay.

Zverev had already won two consecutive matches in the head-to-head series, Madrid has always been Nadal’s toughest clay-court tournament, and the Spaniard had looked vulnerable in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Moreover, the German was making his fourth quarterfinal appearance in four trips to Madrid–an impressive history that includes a title in 2018.

Playing with confidence the whole way despite a brief hiccup at the start, Zverev overpowered Nadal 6-4, 6-4 to punch a ticket to the semis after one hour and 45 minutes. The world No. 6 struck four aces and faced only two break points despite double-faulting five times, ultimately setting up a showdown against Dominic Thiem.

Friday’s turning point came in the seventh, eighth, and ninth games. Trailing 4-2 in the first set, Zverev broke back for 3-4, saved a break point before holding for 4-4, and then broke again for a 5-4 advantage. Finally enjoying the upper hand, Madrid’s No. 5 seed had no trouble serving out the set. In the second, Zverev broke at 2-2 and dropped only eight points in five service games to maintain his lead.

“[It is] definitely one of the biggest wins of my career so far, especially on clay against Rafa,” Zverev assured. “It is the toughest thing to do in our sport. Beating him in his house, in Spain, is incredible but the tournament is not over yet.”

The 24-year-old now goes up against Thiem in a rematch of the memorable 2020 U.S. Open final, won by the Austrian in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

As for Nadal, it’s back to the drawing board before next week’s Rome Masters.

“I’m leaving Madrid with an overall positive feeling, but at the same time with the ugly feeling of having played a match like this today against a great player,” the world No. 2 lamented. “I think for most of the first set, I was playing better than him. In the 4-2 [game], serving for 5-2, I [had] a disaster–another bad game [from] 30-0 (up). Of course, playing against one of the best players of the world, under these circumstances, with this speed of the court, [it] is very difficult to [feel] confident.

“This is the negative part; while playing better than him in the first set, I still lost 6-4. This is very difficult to understand.  When this happens to me, it’s usually in the opposite way; I find a way to win sets even though I’m not playing my best or as good as the opponent.”