Alexander Zverev is no stranger to success at the Madrid Open, a tournament where he seems to play his best tennis. The two-time champion delivered a masterclass to defeat Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-4, punching his ticket to the final four. In doing so, the World No. 3 matched a prestigious record held by only by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Jannik Sinner.
By defeating Cobolli, Zverev became only the fourth man to reach the semifinals at each of the first four Masters 1000 events of the season (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Madrid) since the series began in 1990. He joins an elite list featuring Federer (2006), Nadal (2010, 2011), and Sinner (2026). “It’s amazing but, of course, I need to get past this stage now,” Zverev said with a smile during his on-court interview.
While he reached the semifinals in the three previous Masters events this year, he fell to Sinner on all three occasions. Fortunately for the German, the World No.1 is on the opposite side of the bracket this time; Zverev will face Alexander Blockx, who is coming off an upset win over reigning champion Casper Ruud.
Zverev gets redemption against Cobolli
The victory was particularly sweet as it came just two weeks after Cobolli defeated Zverev in the Munich Open final (6-3, 6-3). While the loss in Munich cost Zverev a title on home soil, the story was different in Madrid.
“No revenge. I love Flavio. He’s one of my favorite guys on Tour,” Zverev told the ATP Tour website. “I have a great relationship with him and a great relationship with his father. This is sport… Sports can change very quickly. In Munich, he played an amazing match and I didn’t play a very good match. Today, it was maybe the opposite”.
A new German milestone on clay
Beyond the tournament bracket, the win was historic for German tennis. With his victory over Cobolli, Zverev now records 179 career wins on clay. This breaks his tie with Philipp Kohlschreiber (178), making Zverev the German player with the most wins on this surface in the Open Era.
