Madrid: Alexander Zverev disappoints, Jannik Sinner smiles from afar
The number 1 seed in the Madrid Masters 1000, Alexander Zverev, bids farewell to the company in the round of 16: the German, in fact, was eliminated in two sets by Francisco Cerundolo, an excellent clay court performer but still 19 places behind Sascha in the world rankings. 7-5, 6-3 was the final result, qualifying the Buenos Aires native, who curiously had also eliminated Zverev himself in Madrid in 2024, also at the level of the round of 16, to the quarters.
The result resonated with the German.
The result has an important implication as far as the ATP rankings are concerned: Alexander Zverev, in fact, does not lose any points but neither does he gain any against Jannik Sinner, and next Monday he will nibble in the rankings only 200 points, the ones lost by the South Tyrolean for his forced absence in this year’s tournament in the Spanish capital.
Sinner, specifically, will drop to 9,730 points, while Zverev will remain at 8,085 in second place on the eve of the world No. 1’s return to the court, scheduled for the Internazionali d’Italia in Rome. The German, beyond the ranking discourse, must reflect on disappointing results at Masters 1000 level this season: in Indian Wells and Monte Carlo he stopped in the second round, in Miami and Madrid in the round of 16.
The only real satisfaction of this season for Zverev, not considering the nonetheless important result at the Australian Open (where he reached the final and was defeated by Jannik Sinner of all people), is the one he took in Munich, winning his third career Bavarian ATP 500 thanks to success in the final against Ben Shelton. An important result that allowed him to consolidate his second place in the world rankings, although Jannik Sinner is, for now, still far behind.
