ATP 1000 tournament in Madrid – Alcaraz gives Zverev tennis lessons – Zhang makes history – sport

At the ATP 1000 tournament in Madrid, Alexander Zverev lost a lesson against Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16.

Alexander Zverev (ATP 16) pulled the hair band off his forehead in frustration and thoughtfully ran his fingers through his hair, then congratulated his Spanish opponent fairly on the victory. In the round of 16 duel with top star Carlos Alcaraz (ATP 2), the tennis Olympic champion clearly missed a surprise at the ATP Masters in Madrid – and his limits were shown.

In just 83 minutes, Alcaraz made short work of Zverev 6: 1, 6: 2. The Spaniard made the break in Zverev’s first service game and set the tone for the game. Alcaraz subsequently had little trouble with his German opponent and mercilessly played out his oppressive superiority. Zverev seemed increasingly annoyed, kept shrugging his shoulders or shaking his head in disappointment.

After the defeat, Zverev, who was in the final in Madrid a year ago, will leave the top 20 for the first time in 6 years. Ahead of the French Open, where he suffered a serious ankle injury in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal in 2022, the 26-year-old is still looking for form.

Russian top duo out

Due to Daniel Altmaier’s exploit, the German colors will still be visible in the quarter-finals: The 24-year-old (ATP 92) defeated the ailing local hero Jaume Munar (ATP 88) 6: 3, 6: 0 and reached the round of the last eight for the first time in an ATP 1000 tournament.

Zhizhen Zhang, who wrote sports history with it, did the same. Before the 26-year-old, no Chinese had ever made it to the quarter-finals at this level. The number 99 in the world had to fend off 3 match points against Taylor Fritz (ATP 10) and won the game 3:6, 7:6, 7:6. Zhang will jump into the top 70 in the world rankings.

With Daniil Medvedev (ATP 3) and Andrej Rublev (ATP 6), other top 10 players failed. The duo had to admit defeat to compatriots of all people in the “Caja Magica”:

• Medvedev, who traditionally does not feel particularly comfortable on sand, lost to Aslan Karazew (ATP 121) 6: 7, 4: 6.
• Rublev had to pack his bags against Karen Khachanov (ATP 12) with exactly the same result.