Alexander Zverev was snubbed by the German press after he won the Madrid Masters crown on Sunday. The German defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
At the post-match press conference, however, there wasn’t much interest in the 24-year-old’s triumph. After the media interaction in English was over, the moderator called for questions in German, but no one seemingly had anything to ask.
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“None?” asked Zverev. “I just won Masters and there’s none in German? As you see, the Germans really don’t care.”
Zverev had overcome three consecutive Top 10 stars to claim the title, following earlier wins against five-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem.
Caja Mágica – you are my happy place!🤗 Thrilled about winning my 4th ATP Masters 1000 title!🏆
Thank you everyone for the support! Muchas gracias Madrid 🇪🇸
📸@atptour @alvarotenis1 pic.twitter.com/RxUz0wpsdq
— Alexander Zverev (@AlexZverev) May 9, 2021
This is the second time that the 24-year-old has posted three or more Top 10 wins at a single event, following his 2018 title run at the ATP Finals (4).
Zverev had not won consecutive matches in three straight tournaments before arriving in the Spanish capital.
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This was the second Madrid Masters crown for the German. The World No. 6 did not drop his serve en route to his first Madrid crown in 2018.
Zverev owns a 15-2 record in Madrid, which represents his best win percentage (.882) across all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
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Zverev and Berrettini’s clash was the fourth straight Masters 1000 final to be contested by past or present #NextGenATP players.
Since the #NextGenATP campaign began in 2016, with players born in 1995 or later, Zverev has won more tour-level titles than any other #NextGenATP alumnus.
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The 6’6” right-hander has lifted 15 ATP Tour titles, five trophies clear of second-placed Daniil Medvedev (10).
Berrettini was aiming to join 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters champion Fabio Fognini as only the second Italian to win a Masters 1000 crown.
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“[To reach my first Masters 1000 final is an] unbelievable feeling. I’m really proud of myself [and] the work I’ve done, not just in the past months, but in my career so far,” Berrettini said.
“I wasn’t one of the guys at 18, 19 or 20 [who] was thinking about these kinds of achievements. I really worked hard to be here.
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“Now that I’m here, I’m upset I lost. It’s important for my tennis, for my level… Sascha won, not easily, but in two sets against Thiem and Rafa, and today [he] was struggling against me.
“This is definitely a good feeling and something that I have to use, to build [on] in my next tournaments. It hurts now, but I know this loss is going to be useful.”
