By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday November 7, 2020
Alexander Zverev put forth a top-notch serving performance and stopped Rafael Nadal’s bid for a first Paris Masters title on Saturday in Bercy.
The German, who is fresh off back-to-back titles in Cologne, stretched his winning streak to 12 matches and earned a spot in the final of a Masters 1000 title for the seventh time, 6-4, 7-5.
Zverev, who made 79 percent of his first serves and won 72 percent of those points in the match, dropped just seven points on serve in the first set and broke Nadal on his only break point opportunity to take the one-set lead.
Nadal, who struggled to make returns and engineer breaks of serve in each of his three previous matches in Paris, later told reporters that he didn’t make the decision to adjust his return position deeper in the court until it was too late.
“I think I returned better than the other days, but was impossible at the beginning,” he said. “I think I understood that I had to go back too late, because I was not able to, he was serving bombs and hitting the right spots all the time. So I decided to go, like, eight meters behind the baseline later on in the match and I think worked better for me.”
In the second set Nadal was close to going down a double break but he wiggled out of a 0-40 scenario to hold for 3-4 and then broke Zverev in the next game.
His momentum faded quickly however.
“I had a lot of chances in the second set,” Zverev said. “I think at 4-2 I had a Love-40 game on his serve which I didn't win. Those moments, the match can turn around, especially against Rafa. But I think I picked up my level at 4-5 down in the second set again and then it all went well. I'm happy to be in the final.”
Zverev took the final three games to stretch his winning streak to two over Nadal – he also beat Nadal at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals last season, but lost the pair’s first five encounters.
With the loss Nadal drops to 22-6 lifetime at the Paris Masters and 25-5 on the season. Since reaching the final in 2007, Nadal has yet to make it back to the last round in Bercy.
Zverev will face Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final. The Russian reached his fourth Masters 1000 final on Saturday by taking out Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(4). The Russian owns a 1-5 lifetime record against Zverev, but he did claim their only previous final, at Shanghai last year.
Zverev owns a 3-3 record in Masters 1000 titles; Medvedev has won two of three, with all of them coming in 2019.
Nadal Looks Ahead to London
Nadal feels that his performance in Paris should give him some good momentum going into the ATP Finals, where he will be seeking his first title.
“I said before have been not a bad tournament,” he told reporters on Saturday. “I spent hours on court. Of course I wanted to win the tournament, but it's always difficult. But I had the right attitude during the whole event, I think, fighting in every match. That give me the chance to play four matches that I think that will be helpful for London. I need to adjust a couple of things, but I am doing well on all the important things.
“I have one week and a little bit more to keep working, and I hope be ready for it.”