ATP Madrid: Stefanos Tsitsipas dethrones Alexander Zverev in thrilling test
In the battle of the most promising youngsters on the Tour, the 8th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas took down the 3rd seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and ten minutes for the second straight win over the German. The first came last year in Toronto when Stefanos played in the first Masters 1000 semi-final and this will be his second, passing Daniil Medvedev with 26 ATP wins to become the Tour leader in 2019. The Greek won four points more in an intense and high-quality clash, erasing four out of five break points to put the struggling German under pressure and prevailing with three breaks from eight opportunities to set the duel against Rafael Nadal or Stan Wawrinka.
Zverev played incredible tennis here a year ago for one of the most dominant Masters 1000 runs, especially on clay, but he is miles from that level this year despite a solid effort here in Madrid, losing steam in the decider to drop a lot of points and leave the top-4 for the first time since November. Stefanos delivered easier holds in the first set and broke at love at 5-5 when Alexander netted an easy forehand. The Greek closed the opener with a hold in the next game after another error from the German who had to raise the level in the rest of the encounter to stand a chance of title defense.
The second set offered seven good holds and some excellent points on both sides that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats before Zverev took charge, delivering one winner after another for 12 of the last 13 points and the set. Alexander broke at love in game eight and secured the set with a forehand crosscourt winner that gave him a massive momentum before the start of the decider. He had his chances there in the opening games, wasting three break points at 1-1 and hitting a double fault in the next game to hand the serve to Stefanos who clinched the triumph with another break in game eight for the place in the last four and one of his best results on clay.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2PZto94
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