ATP Madrid – Carlos Alcaraz crushes Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-2) and reaches the quarter-finals

There was no shock. Above all, there was no match at all. In this reissue of the final of the 2022 edition, the match of the day in these round of 16 in Madrid, Carlos Alcaraz swept away an apathetic Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-2) and validated his presence in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters 1000 on Tuesday in the Spanish capital. It only took 1h21 for the Murcien, pushed by his public, to crush his executioner from the last Roland-Garros, far, very far from his best level. Defending champion Alcaraz will challenge Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals. The Russian beat his buddy Andrey Rublev earlier today.

The match changed very early: from the second game of the match. Serving at that time, Zverev led 40/15 and had two balls to recover at 1-1. Above all, he had just made a typical point to outflank his young opponent: a big first, followed by an aggressive forehand. Except that the German machine got stuck at that time after less than ten minutes of play. After a first double fault, the former top 5 in the ATP rankings lost his tennis and lived a real nightmare on the Manolo Santana court. Broken after this extended game of ten minutes, he knew very quickly that beating the 2nd player in the world was going to be mission impossible.

Zverev will come out of the top 20, Alcaraz without forcing

The first set therefore looked like a long ordeal: Zverev scored only one game and offered a lot of gifts to his opponent, whose tactical plan was to make him play the shot more. A constant in this game. He lived more or less the same galley in the second race. This time he completed his first two service games before… exploding once again and letting Alcaraz slip away to victory. With 22 unforced errors, 9 winning shots, including only 1 on the forehand, an absent service, the German offered a tennis porridge to the Madrid public. His head down exit from the court said a lot about his state of mind. He will leave the top 20 ATP next Monday, he who entered it on May 8, 2017.

Carlos Alcaraz won this match by remaining serious and solid. No need to do more against this Zverev. Carried by a first ball to the meeting, the Murcian often rolled behind his engagement and gave himself more in return for service, by activating the “Speedy Gonzalez” mode. Excellent in ground cover, as often, he played a tactically smart game by bringing most of Zverev’s attacking shots home. Oddly enough, his toughest game of this match was the last one. Joined at 40/40 – at 6-1, 5-2 – for the first time in the game, he quickly dismissed any doubts by pocketing the last two points. It was a good day at work for Carlitos.