"Wasn't up to scratch at all": Alexander Zverev receives scathing assessment after dominant Sinner final win

Alexander Zverev was soundly beaten in the final of the Madrid Open by Jannik Sinner and former ATP Tour player Nicolas Escude has said that in reality the Italian didn't really need to try in the match.

In the championship match in Madrid, Sinner steamrolled third-ranked Zverev 6-1, 6-2 in just 58 minutes to secure his maiden title in the Spanish title. Breaking Zverev twice in each set and losing just seven points on his own serve, he won 51 out of 74 points and barely had any trouble from the other end of the court.

Sinner has now won nine consecutive matches against Zverev and leads their head-to-head remarkably 10-4 after Zverev has lost four out of the last five with the German. He has also not been broken in his last six meetings showing a pretty damning indictment of his struggles. “There hasn’t been any doubt (about Sinner being the best player in the world) for a while now,” said the former world No 17 as per Eurosport France.

“He’s a juggernaut, five Masters 1000 titles in a row… We can even add the ATP Finals. He dominated it without dropping a set. It’s impressive, even if this final was disappointing. We didn’t learn anything new about Sinner in this match. He didn’t do anything exceptional, he was never under pressure, he was never threatened… He did what he knows how to do. It’s Zverev who wasn’t up to scratch at all in this final. The slightest lapse against him (Sinner), and you pay the price.”

For Escude too, he marvelled over Sinner too managing to only have one Masters title still to scoop and said that it is pretty incredible that it is at home too. He will be heavy favourite too given that Alcaraz isn't playing either so will look to write that wrong shortly.

But a pretty crushing statement when it comes to a certain German who is World No.3 and his final form or lack there of during Madrid after such a great tournament. “It’s fantastic that the last one he’s missing is at home in Rome,” said the Frenchman.

“For what it’s worth, it’s brilliant. He didn’t necessarily look tired during the final, but I thought he looked a little drawn, a bit tired. He’s spoken about weariness, about physical fatigue, and that’s still true. If he has to skip Rome, he will.”