Zverev triumphs in battle of young guns

MADRID: Germany’s Alexander Zverev won the battle of the young guns against Denis Shapovalov on Saturday to set up a Madrid Open final against Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

The 21-year-old third seed was clinical as he trounced erratic Canadian Shapovalov, two years his junior, 6-4 6-1 in less than an hour on centre court.

Earlier in the day Thiem backed up his shock defeat of defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals to beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-2 and reach the final for the second year in succession.

“It’s obviously a great final for kind of the future ahead,” Zverev said of the meeting with Thiem.

Zverev and Shapovalov did not take to court until around 10 pm local time after Petra Zvitova’s marathon final victory over Kiki Bertens in the women’s singles.

The opening eight games went with serve with Shapovalov producing some trademark backhands winners from his singlehander, including one audacious topspin lob.

The second set proved a nocontest as Zverev took complete control against a dispirited looking opponent.

Thiem claimed a first win against Anderson at the seventh attempt with a commanding display.

None of the their previous meetings had been on Thiem’s favoured clay and the surface proved decisive as he managed to dictate against Anderson who was appearing in his first semifinal of a Masters 1000 event.

Thiem needed a single break of serve in the opening set and broke twice in the second to wrap up victory.

He said his victory over Nadal had been a timely boost after being thrashed by the Spaniard in Monte Carlo and falling in the quarter-finals in Barcelona.

“It gave me a huge boost of confidence,” he said.

Thiem will need to maintain his level if he is to claim a first Masters 1000 title on Sunday although he does boast a 4-1 career head-to-head lead over Zverev.