Alexander Zverev loses to Nadal but he’s knocking on the door of the Big Four
It looked like Alexander Zverev was going to walk away with the win over Rafael Nadal, but like most times on clay, the 16-time grand slam champion won another Masters 1000 title, beating the young German 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
After the first set, it looked like Alexander Zverev was going to pull off the impossible and beat Rafael Nadal in a clay tournament final. After Nadal did his usual walk all over his opponent in the first set, schooling the young German with a 6-1 drubbing, the 21-year-old bounced back in surprising fashion and didn’t let up until the rain stopped all his momentum.
But still, ‘Sascha’ Zverev is here to stay.
He already beat Novak Djokovic here last year, winning his first Masters 1000 title in Rome. He followed that up with a win over Roger Federer in Montreal at the Canadian Open Masters 1000. He just achieved his third Masters 1000 title in a final against the second-best clay court player, Dominic Thiem, just last week in Madrid. And it almost happened when the German took the final away from Nadal’s comfort zone, pushing him all over the court, forcing several errors from the legendary tennis player. It was disconcerting to see Nadal look so uncomfortable in a clay final, but that’s how impressive Zverev was, until the rain damped his run.
But the German has a lot to be proud of and has certainly established himself as a major threat to Nadal’s potential 11th French Open. Make no mistake: The way he imposed his will in the second set and achieved the break in the third, will continue to make the talented player the major threat to Federer and Nadal’s stranglehold at the top all year long.
“Even when I was tired, I still found a way against great players. And this is not easy to do,” said Zverev, according to the ATP.
“I was not far away from beating Rafa on a clay court in a Masters [1000] final,” Zverev said afterwards. “I found the way [in the second and middle of the third set], I felt like I had control over most of the points. That is very important against him on clay.”
Even though it went Nadal’s way in the end, Zverev is looking forward to their next encounter.
“We’ll see next time I play him,” Zverev said.
For Nadal, the win brought everything. In Rome, he increased his tally to eight titles. He also amplified his Masters 1000 record to 32, two above Djokovic and five above Federer. He also moves back up to world No. 1, taking the top spot back from Roger Federer, and goes into the French Open in a very strong position to gun for his 11th crown there.
However, Alexander Zverev is also in a great position going into Roland Garros. Of all the young players on the tour, the world No. 3 Zverev doesn’t seem to be intimidated by the Big Four anymore. He’s been knocking on their door for a while and pretty soon will be smashing it down.
Alexander Zverev is growing in confidence tournament by tournament. He has clearly established himself as the answer to what will happen when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer leave the game. He may very well be the answer before they retire.