Zverev caps dominant week with Madrid Open title
German has won 18 consecutive sets since losing in BMW Open last week
Alexander Zverev capped a perfect week at the Madrid Open in Spain with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Austrian Dominic Thiem on Sunday to earn his third ATP title.
The second-seeded German has won 18 consecutive sets since losing the opening set in the first round of the BMW Open last week, and Zverev faced just one break point in the entire tournament.
"In general, the last 10 days have been pretty good, winning two titles in this time," Zverev said.
"One in Germany and this one here is massive. It's been unbelievable. I'm not going to lie. I'm just going to do everything I can to continue this kind of streak."
Thiem, seeded fifth, had saved 13 of 20 break points he faced before the final, but Zverev converted on two of his four opportunities in the championship match without facing a break point himself.
Zverev claimed his tour-leading 26th match win of the year in one hour and 19 minutes by firing 15 winners and benefiting from 21 unforced errors by Thiem.
Hoping to continue streak in Rome
The 21-year-old is just the fifth active player with three or more tournament titles at the elite level, joining Rafael Nadal (31), Novak Djokovic (30), Roger Federer (27) and Andy Murray (14).
"All in all, I'm just really happy with how I played, that I could win my third Masters," Zverev said. "So far it's been pretty good for me on clay this year. Hopefully I can continue this kind of streak in Rome. Obviously the altitude fits me a little bit with my serve, with how I play, with me playing a little bit more aggressive than maybe others. That definitely fits me."
A Thiem double-fault in his opening service gave Zverev all the room he needed to break, and the Austrian would win just three points in his first four return games.
Zverev escaped a deuce game to wrap up the first set. Zverev broke again to kick off the second set and never had to look back other than surviving being taken to deuce in his third service game. Zverev won 16 of 17 first-serve points in the second set.