The clock in the Manolo Santana Stadium read twenty-eight minutes. Flavio Cobolli slumped into his chair and let out a sigh.
The scoreboard read 6-1 and his opponent, Alexander Zverev was playing like a force of nature. If you blinked, you probably missed it. The German, ever-reliable at the Masters 1000s, was firing on all cylinders.
“I love the night session in Madrid. Today a lot of people wanted Cobolli to win, but I hope they cheer me on the semi-finals. I love playing on this court”, said Zverev after his 6-1, 6-4 quarter-final win over Cobolli. Waiting on the other side of the net on Friday will be the tournament’s surprise package Alexander Blockx, who eliminated Casper Ruud, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Francisco Cerúndolo.
Blockx-Zverev will be a clash of contrasts; this is the first venture into the last four of an ATP tournament for Blockx, while Zverev will be playing in his seventh semi-final in the last eight Masters 1000s. The German has stayed true to form at the Mutua Madrid Open, a tournament he has already conquered twice (2018, 2021). He is now just two steps from the title once again.
A seven-time champion in the category, the world number three did not give Cobolli a look-in on the Caja Magica’s centre court, despite the fact that the Italian is currently playing the best tennis of his short career. His form is reflected in the ATP Rankings, where he will climb one spot on Monday into 12th, knocking on the door of the top ten. It also earned him the title in Acapulco two months back and the final he reached a few days ago in Munich, where he sank an uncomfortable looking Zverev, 6-3, 6-3.
However, the German could not be more comfortable at the altitude of Madrid, and the result in the Caja Magica was very different to that of Munich. With some impressive serving, Zverev was only truly challenged one time in the match, when it came to crossing the line. At 5-4 up and serving for the second set, the Hamburg native suddenly found himself having to fend off two break points, something he did with aplomb. As if he had ice flowing through his veins, he produced two huge serves and finished off the job.
“That’s life, that’s tennis. Things change very quickly. Flavio is playing the best tennis of his life at the moment. In Munich he played incredible tennis and I wasn’t so good. Today it was the opposite. I was almost perfect”, said the German. He is not wrong.
