On one side of the net will be a man who already knows what it is to don the Mutua Madrid Open crown. On the other, a player looking for the first big title of his career to consolidate his considerable progress. The Manolo Santana Stadium will provide the stage for a thrilling final between Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini.
The German and Italian will be bidding to succeed Novak Djokovic as the king of the Caja Mágica. For the fifth seed it is a chance to pick up his second trophy (2018) on the clay in the Spanish capital and equal Andy Murray on two titles (2008 and 2015). It would be a more surprising win for seed number eight as this is his first appearance in the main draw, having played in the qualifiers in previous years.
In their head-to-head on the ATP Tour, Zverev leads with two victories to Berrettini’s one. The Hamburg native won in 2018 in Rome (7-5, 6-2) and a year later in Shanghai (6-3, 6-4). For his part, the player from Rome picked up his win in his native city in 2019 (7-5, 7-5).
The world No. 6 will have experience on his side, having played in seven ATP Masters 1000 finals, winning in Rome and Canada (2017) as well as the above-mentioned triumph at the #MMOPEN. However, for the world No. 10, this will be his first appearance in a final of this magnitude.
Berrettini, Italian tennis’ highest ranked man, is the second player from his country to play for a Masters 1000 title this season after Jannik Sinner did so in Miami. The last of their compatriots to win a title was Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo (2019).
What the finalists had to say about their clash:
Zverev: “The job is not done yet. I hope I can do well tomorrow. I have a very difficult opponent. I hope I can continue playing and performing the way I am. He’s been playing exceptionally well this week. He was hitting the ball so hard, serving extremely well”.
Berrettini: “It’s going to be a challenging match, but I’m in the finals. I saw him, he’s playing really well. He’s solid. He moves well. For his height, he’s really good. He serves well. I mean, he’s in the final. He beat Rafa and Dominic, probably the best players on clay. It’;s going to be a challenging match”.
