2021 ATP Madrid Open Final Preview with Zverev vs Berrettini

The 2021 Madrid Open is a premier event running from April 29th till May 9th for the WTA and ATP as the events run at the same time.

The 2021 Madrid Open is coming to an end with the men's final remaining to be played. The two best players this past week have been Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini. Zverev arrived at the Spanish capital in shaky form but he was able to shake off the rust beating an impressive list of players like Nishikori, Evans, Nadal and Thiem to reach the final.

His play has been centred around his powerful serve which benefits from the altitude. He is yet to drop a set in the event and the familiarity with the event (won in 2018) greatly benefits his confidence. Matteo Berrettini entered the event after winning the Belgrade trophy where he displayed some good form.

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His run to the final saw him beat a plethora of clay-court specialists such as Fognini, Delbonis, Garin and Ruud. He dropped only one set (to Garin) and played generally very well. He too posses a strong 1st serve which he utilizes well with his powerful forehand. This is an interesting matchup between players that play a similar style.

Both build their play around the serve and who serves better will have a huge advantage. The experience is on the side of Zverev who played much more high-stakes matches. For Matteo, this is his first ATP 1000 final and that might be a factor as well. In terms of H2H, Zverev leads 2-1 with Matteo's only win coming on the clay of Rome.

This match should be a close one especially if both play the way they have so far. It will an enjoyable watch and a great intro to the Masters in Rome which start today as well. Match stars at 18:30 CET.

Livescores ATP/WTA Madrid Open.

2021 ATP Madrid Open Schedule of Play:

Sunday, May 9th:

18:30 Zverev A. (Ger) - Berrettini M. (Ita)

Saturday, May 8th:

Saturday at the Madrid Open will bring the conclusion of the WTA side of the event as the final is taking place. The two best players in Madrid were Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka. It's a repeat of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix from last week with much higher stakes.

Barty won that final in three sets and one should expect another close battle this time around. Both players looked better than last week and the conditions are vastly different. Barty will be favoured as the historically better clay player but if Sabalenka has her day she can absolutely win it.

On the ATP side of the event, we will have the men's semifinals matches and there won't be Nadal playing as the Spaniard lost to Zverev. The German will play Dominic Thiem who is back to form on his preferred surface. They played in the 2018 Madrid Open final and Zverev was able to win that match. With the way he played so far he might win again but Thiem will fancy his chances.

In the 2nd semifinal, we will see Casper Ruud take on either Christian Garin or Matteo Berrettini. This is the 3rd consecutive clay-court semifinals for Ruud at a Masters 1000 having reached the same stage in Rome last year and Monte-Carlo this year. He will face a very tough opponent in Berrettini who is riding 7-match win streak on clay.

ATP

16:00 Zverev A. (Ger) - Thiem D. (Aut)
21:00 Ruud C. (Nor) - Berrettini M. (Ita)

WTA

18:30 Barty A. (Aus) - Sabalenka A. (Blr)

Friday, May 7th:

It's the quarterfinal day at the Madrid Open and it's the first day in the whole week that there will not be any WTA matches on the schedule. We are down to the final 8 players and one of them will become the Madrid Open champion. The native Spanish crowd will hope it's Nadal but there are some serious contenders. The main one will be Dominic Thiem who will kick off the day at 13:00 CET.

He will play against John Isner and he will try to solve the riddle that Andrey Rublev could not. Isner said after his win against Rublev that he was not the better play but he still won. For Thiem, it will be a tough challenge but he will embrace it. After that, we will see Rafale Nadal take on Alexander Zverev. It's the best match of the day and the Spanish crowd will rally behind Nadal.

Zverev has played extremely well so far in Madrid and he won it in 2018 so he will fancy his chances. The evening schedule will start at 19:00 with Bublik taking on Ruud. Two players who played well so far but Ruud as a clay-court specialist is heavily favoured here.

The final match of the day will feature Matteo Berrettini taking on Garin. Two players who are capable clay players should deliver a strong match to wrap up an exciting quarterfinals day at the Madrid Open.

13:00 Thiem D. (Aut) - Isner J. (Usa)
15:00 Nadal R. (Esp) - Zverev A. (Ger)
19:00 Bublik A. (Kaz) - Ruud C. (Nor)
20:30 Berrettini M. (Ita) - Garin C. (Chi)

Thursday, May 6th: 

ATP

11:00 Karatsev A. (Rus) - Bublik A. (Kaz)
11:00 Thiem D. (Aut) - De Minaur A. (Aus)
12:30 Garin C. (Chi) - Medvedev D. (Rus)
14:00 Isner J. (Usa) - Rublev A. (Rus)
15:00 Nadal R. (Esp) - Popyrin Al. (Aus)
16:00 Ruud C. (Nor) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)
17:30 Berrettini M. (Ita) - Delbonis F. (Arg)
19:00 Evans D. (Gbr) - Zverev A. (Ger)

WTA

13:00 Barty A. (Aus) - Badosa G. P. (Esp)
20:30 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus)

Wednesday, May 5th:

The Madrid Open continues on Wednesday with both ATP and WTA matches. On the WTA side of the event, we enter the final stretch with the quarterfinals set to be played. It will start at 11:00 CET with Badosa taking on Bencic. It continues at 13:00 with Barty taking on Kvitova. Pavlyuchenkova will play Muchova while the programme will wrap up with Sabalenka taking on her doubles partner Mertens.

On the ATP side of things, we will have a big day filled with a lot of tennis. It will start at 11:00 CET with three matches. The most interesting one will feature Medvedev returning to tennis and he will play against Davidovich Fokina. Alexander Zverev will have a tough match against Kei Nishikori while Sinner will play Popyrin.

The most anticipated match of the day will be played in the afternoon hours when Nadal takes on Spanish sensation Alcaraz. Bautista-Agut will try to find a way to defeat John Isner while the programme will be closed out with a clash between Tsitsipas and Paire.

ATP

11:00 Davidovich Fokina A. (Esp) - Medvedev D. (Rus)
11:00 Garin C. (Chi) - Koepfer D. (Ger)
11:00 Schwartzman D. (Arg) - Karatsev A. (Rus)
12:30 Millman J. (Aus) - Evans D. (Gbr)
12:30 Nishikori K. (Jpn) - Zverev A. (Ger)
14:00 Popyrin Al. (Aus) - Sinner J. (Ita)
14:00 Ramos A. (Esp) - Delbonis F. (Arg)
15:00 Nadal R. (Esp) - Alcaraz C. (Esp)
15:30 Bautista-Agut R. (Esp) - Isner J. (Usa)
17:00 Ruud C. (Nor) - Nishioka Y. (Jpn)
20:00 Paire B. (Fra) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)

WTA

11:00 Badosa G. P. (Esp) - Bencic B. (Sui)
13:00 Barty A. (Aus) - Kvitova P. (Cze)
15:00 Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus) - Muchova K. (Cze)
19:00 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Mertens E. (Bel)

Tuesday, May 4th:

The 2021 Madrid Open continues on Tuesday with a very packed day of tennis mostly consisting of ATP matches (15) with the main draw of the ATP side of the draw truly underway with some 2nd round matches. Play will commence at 11:00 CET with a banger between Auger-Aliassime and Ruud. Another good matchup early in the day is Nishikori taking on Khachanov.

Andrey Rublev will step out to play Tommy Paul while Denis Shapovalov will take on Alexander Bublik. Roberto Bautista Agut will defend Spanish colours against Marco Cecchinato while the match between Berrettini and Fognini promises fireworks. The last match of the day will be the return of Dominic Thiem to tennis as he will play Marcos Giron.

On the WTA side of things, we will have four very interesting matches with the first one starting at 13:00 CET. Simona Halep will take on Elise Mertens in a very interesting matchup. Another banger will be the match between Pegula and Sabalenka with both players enjoying aggressive tennis.

Brady will take on Pavlyuchenkova while the final match of the day will be played at 20:30. Muchova will take on Maria Sakkari with a place in the quarterfinals as a potential reward for the winner.

ATP

11:00 Auger-Aliassime F. (Can) - Ruud C. (Nor)
11:00 Herbert P. (Fra) - Davidovich Fokina A. (Esp)
11:00 Hurkacz H. (Pol) - Millman J. (Aus)
11:00 Khachanov K. (Rus) - Nishikori K. (Jpn)
11:00 Pella G. (Arg) - Sinner J. (Ita)
12:30 Fritz T. (Usa) - Ramos A. (Esp)
12:30 Norrie C. (Gbr) - Krajinovic F. (Srb)
12:30 Paul T. (Usa) -Rublev A. (Rus)
12:30 Popyrin Al. (Aus) - Struff J-L. (Ger)
14:00 Basilashvili N. (Geo) - Paire B. (Fra)
14:00 Bublik A. (Kaz) -Shapovalov D. (Can)
15:00 Bautista-Agut R. (Esp) - Cecchinato M. (Ita)
16:30 Berrettini M. (Ita) - Fognini F. (Ita)
18:30 De Minaur A. (Aus) - Harris G. (Rsa)
19:00 Thiem D. (Aut) - Giron M. (Usa)

WTA

13:00 Mertens E. (Bel) - Halep S. (Rou)
15:00 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Pegula J. (Usa)
17:00 Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus) - Brady J. (Usa)
20:30 Sakkari M. (Gre) - Muchova K. (Cze)

Monday, May 3rd:

The 2021 Madrid Open continues on Monday with matches from both the ATP and WTA. On the ATP side of things, we will see the first batch of the 1st round matches with 10 main draw matches on the schedule. Things will start at 11 with Karatsev taking on Humbert and Dimitrov playing Harris. Several other interesting matches will take place such as Chardy vs Evans or Koepfer vs Opelka.

Mannarino and Alcaraz will play for the right to play Nadal in round 2 while Taberner will try to take out Fognini after he defeated Musetti in the qualifiers. The day will end with a great matchup between Garin and Verdasco.

Kvitova will play against Kudermetova while Bencic will take on Jabeur. The Spanish flag will fly high at 17:00 CET when Badosa takes on Sevastova. She will try to continue her good run on home soil. The day will end with a proper banger at 19:00 CET when Ashleigh Barty takes on Iga Swiatek. Both are good clay players and both won the French Open so it should be a spectacle.

WTA
13:00 Kvitova P. (Cze) - Kudermetova V. (Rus)
15:00 Jabeur O. (Tun) - Bencic B. (Sui)
17:00 Badosa G. P. (Esp) - Sevastova A. (Lat)
19:00 Barty A. (Aus) - Swiatek I. (Pol)

ATP

11:00 Harris G. (Rsa) - Dimitrov G. (Bul)
11:00 Humbert U. (Fra) - Karatsev A. (Rus)
11:00 Isner J. (Usa) - Kecmanovic M. (Srb)
12:30 Chardy J. (Fra) - Evans D. (Gbr)
12:30 Koepfer D. (Ger) - Opelka R. (Usa)
14:00 Taberner C. (Esp) - Fognini F. (Ita)
14:30 Mannarino A. (Fra) - Alcaraz C. (Esp)
16:30 Andujar-Alba P. (Esp) - Giron M. (Usa)
18:30 Delbonis F. (Arg) - Carreno-Busta P. (Esp)
20:30 Garin C. (Chi) - Verdasco F. (Esp)

Sunday, May 2nd:

The 2nd day of May will be the first event where both the men and women will play at the Madrid Open. The WTA event is in full swing while the ATP event is just starting with 4 matches on the first day. It will start with Martinez taking on Paul before Fucsovics plays Bublik. Shapovalov will be the biggest name playing that day and he will face Lajovic. The final match will be played between De Minaur and Munar.

On the WTA side of things, we will have Osaka kicking us off with a match against Muchova. A bit later we will see two very strong matches as Sabalenka takes on Kasatkina while Sakkari plays Kontaveit. Pliskova will look to build upon her solid form recently against Pavlyuchenkova while Ostapenko will play Brady.

Simona Halep will also play on Sunday and her opponent will be Zheng. Elena Rybakina will get the afternoon programme underway with a match against Elise Mertens while Azarenka will close out the day with a match against Pegula.

WTA

11:00 Muchova K. (Cze) - Osaka N. (Jpn)
12:30 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Kasatkina D. (Rus)
12:30 Sakkari M. (Gre) - Kontaveit A. (Est)
14:30 Pliskova Ka. (Cze) - Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus)
16:00 Ostapenko J. (Lat) - Brady J. (Usa)
16:00 Zheng S. (Chn) - Halep S. (Rou)
17:30 Mertens E. (Bel) - Rybakina E. (Kaz)
17:30 Pegula J. (Usa) - Azarenka V. (Blr)

ATP

12:30 Martinez P. (Esp) - Paul T. (Usa)
14:00 Fucsovics M. (Hun) - Bublik A. (Kaz)
14:30 Lajovic D. (Srb) - Shapovalov D. (Can)
15:30 De Minaur A. (Aus) - Munar J. (Esp)

Saturday, May 1st:

The 2021 WTA Madrid Open continues on Saturday with a strong schedule of play headlined by several French Open winners in Barty and Swiatek. Play, as on most days, will start at 11:00 CET and it will be Barty taking on Zidansek. After that, we will see Sevastova play against Konta and Swiatek against Siegemund.

A very interesting matchup will take place at 14:00 as Kvitova plays Kerber for the 14th time in her career with the German leading 7-6 so far. Stephens will play Jabeur in a repeat of the same matchup from Charleston a few weeks ago. The afternoon part will feature Kudermetova taking on former Madrid Open champ Bertens.

Badosa will defend Spanish colours against Teichmann at 19:00 while the final match will be played in the evening starting at 20:30. Belinda Bencic will take on Bernarda Pera.

11:00 Barty A. (Aus) - Zidansek T. (Slo)
12:30 Sevastova A. (Lat) - Konta J. (Gbr)
12:30 Siegemund L. (Ger) - Swiatek I. (Pol)
14:00 Kvitova P. (Cze) - Kerber A. (Ger)
14:00 Stephens S. (Usa) - Jabeur O. (Tun)
17:00 Kudermetova V. (Rus) - Bertens K. (Ned)
19:00 Teichmann J. B. (Sui) - Badosa G. P. (Esp)
20:30 Pera B. (Usa) - Bencic B. (Sui)

Friday, April 30th:

The 2021 Madrid Open continues with another day filled with tennis as day two brings us 16 singles matches once more. Play, as always, will start at 11:00 CET and immediately we will see two very interesting matches. Porsche Grand Prix Finalist Sabalenka will take on Zvonareva while Sakkari will play Anisimova.

Naomi Osaka will also play and it will be her first match on clay in a very long time. Misaki Doi is a capable clay player so it should be interesting. Another interesting matchup will be between Simona Halep and Sara Sorribes Tormo. The Spanish player had a brilliant run in North America and she will look to extend that on clay.

Halep is one of the best clay players in the world so it should be a true spectacle. Another fascinating matchup is the one between Alexandrova and Azarenka. The Russian player is coming to Madrid in good form and she will look to surprise Azarenka who can slip up on clay. Two late afternoon matches will close out the programme. First, Gauff will take on Pliskova before Brady plays Williams.

11:00 Begu I. (Rou) - Kasatkina D. (Rus)
11:00 Sabalenka A. (Blr) - Zvonareva V. (Rus)
11:00 Sakkari M. (Gre) - Anisimova A. (Usa)
11:00 Wang Q. (Chn) - Muchova K. (Cze)
12:30 Doi M. (Jpn) - Osaka N. (Jpn)
12:30 Linette M. (Pol) - Zheng S. (Chn)
12:30 Pegula J. (Usa) - Cirstea S. (Rou)
12:30 Stojanovic N. (Srb) - Kontaveit A. (Est)
14:00 Mertens E. (Bel) - Zhang S. (Chn)
14:00 Pavlyuchenkova A. (Rus) - Keys M. (Usa)
14:00 Sorribes Tormo S. (Esp) - Halep S. (Rou)
14:00 Tomljanovic A. (Aus) - Rybakina E. (Kaz)
15:30 Alexandrova E. (Rus) - Azarenka V. (Blr)
15:30 Hercog P. (Slo) - Ostapenko J. (Lat)
15:30 Pliskova Ka. (Cze) - Gauff C. (Usa)
17:00 Williams V. (Usa) - Brady J. (Usa)

Thursday, April 29th: 

The main draw of the 2021 WTA Madrid Open kicks off on Thursday 29th April with 16 main draw matches starting at 11:00 CET. There will be several interesting matchups between well-known players including a clash between Kerber and Vondrousova at 11:00 CET. Svitolina will play against Teichmann while Kvitova will play Bouzkova.

Ashleigh Barty will start her campaign against Rogers while Swiatek will take on Riske. Another fascinating matchup will be between Mladenovic and Bencic which will be played later in the day, depending on the other matches. The programme will be wrapped up by another sensational clash between native Muguruza and Stephens who picked up her form lately.

11:00 Jimenez Kasintseva V. (And) - Bertens K. (Ned)
11:00 Kerber A. (Ger) - Vondrousova M. (Cze)
11:00 Shvedova Y. (Kaz) - Jabeur O. (Tun)
11:00 Svitolina E. (Ukr) - Teichmann J. B. (Sui)
12:30 Badosa G. P. (Esp) - Krejcikova B. (Cze)
12:30 Kudermetova V. (Rus) - Vesnina E. (Rus)
12:30 Kvitova P. (Cze) - Bouzkova M. (Cze)
12:30 Putintseva Y. (Kaz) - Konta J. (Gbr)
14:00 Barty A. (Aus) - Rogers S. (Usa)
14:00 Hsieh S-W. (Tpe) - Zidansek T. (Slo)
14:00 Kozlova Kat. (Ukr) - Siegemund L. (Ger)
14:00 Riske A. (Usa) - Swiatek I. (Pol)
15:30 Bogdan A. (Rou) - Sevastova A. (Lat)
15:30 Martic P. (Cro) - Pera B. (Usa)
15:30 Mladenovic K. (Fra) - Bencic B. (Sui)
15:30 Muguruza G. (Esp) - Stephens S. (Usa)

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