Alexander Zverev could have hardly envisioned a better European clay-court swing so far.
With three weeks remaining, the 21-year-old has won two titles, reached three finals and compiled a 16-2 record on the red dirt. Earlier this week in Rome, the German had strung together winning streaks of 13 matches and 23 sets.
On Sunday, he competed in his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final and took a set off Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series before falling 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
But of all the results Zverev could celebrate, he said his second consecutive run to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final in Rome is the “most satisfying”.
“Even when I was tired, I still found a way against great players. And this is not easy to do,” said Zverev, who beat three Top 20 players, including No. 19 Kyle Edmund, No. 10 David Goffin and No. 5 Marin Cilic, en route to the final.
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“This is one of the biggest tournaments that we have in the world. So finding a way to get to the finals after two tournaments that I won is something amazing for me.”
Zverev began the clay-court swing by making the semi-finals of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the season's first clay-court Masters 1000 tournament.
He then repeated as champion in Munich at the BMW Open by FWU (d. Kohlschreiber). At the Mutua Madrid Open, Zverev won his second clay-court Masters 1000 title (Rome 2017). This week in Rome, the 6'6” right-hander reached his third Masters 1000 final of the season (Miami, Madrid).
Zverev's second-set triumph snapped the Spaniard's 17-set win streak in clay-court finals. The German also led Nadal by a break 3-1 in the third set.
“I was not far away from beating Rafa on a clay court in a Masters [1000] final,” Zverev said. “I found the way [in the second and middle of the third set], I felt like I had control over most of the points. That is very important against him on clay.”
Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-0, but Zverev is already looking forward to their next matchup.
“We'll see next time I play him,” Zverev said. “But right now, he's in control of me.”