By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday May 7, 2022

 

Behind his relentless baseline attack Alexander Zverev charged to victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Madrid.

Photo Source: Getty

Alexander Zverev continues to ride the hot hand at the Madrid Open. The two-time champion moved to within one win of a successful title defence on Saturday with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 triumph over Stefanos Tsitsipas.



He will face hometown hero Carlos Alcaraz for the title after the 19-year-old Spaniard became the first man in history to defeat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same clay-court event earlier on Saturday.

Zverev improves to 19-2 lifetime but he is aware which player will have the crowd support when he faces the rising teenager on Sunday.

He said he knows he doesn’t own the Centre Court in Madrid, named after Spanish legend Manolo Santana and known affectionately as Caja Majica.

"I'm just renting it," Zverev said with a laugh on court after the match. "It's going to be his court for the next 15 years probably. It has been Rafa's court for the past 15 years and it's going to be his court for the next 15 years. "I just hope I can give him some trouble and I hope I can manage to win tomorrow."

Zverev played incredible baseline tennis in his win over Tsitsipas, smothering the Greek with pace and power off of both wings. Only when he faltered on serve late in the second set did he give Tsitsipas a toehold in the match. The Greek broke for 5-3 and held serve to force a third set, but the power shifted back to Zverev’s side of the court in the decider.

The victory marks the German’s fourth win in 11 tries against Tsitsipas, and his first ever triumph over the 23-year-old World No.5 on clay.

Zverev leads the head-to-head with Alcaraz 2-0, with both wins coming in 2021 on hard courts.