Zverev-Thiem to pursue Masters 1000 title

Madrid, May 13 (IANS) German Alexander Zverev won the right to play for the first time the final of the Mutua Madrid Open against Austrian Dominic Thiem by beating Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-1 in the solo in 57 minutes.

Earlier, Thiem beat South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 25 minutes, reports Efe.

It will be the first time Zverev and Thiem will meet for a Masters final 1000, becoming both perhaps a benchmark for upcoming tests of this calibre.

The Austrian played last year in Madrid and Zverev was the only one in 2017 who reached five semifinals of this level, with titles in Rome and Montreal, and this year lost the Miami against John Isner. It will be the fourth final of this type for Hamburg.

If on Sunday the German adds Madrid to his record, he will be the fifth active player with at least three titles of this level, still far from Rafael Nadal's 31, Novak Djokovic's 30, Roger Federer's 27 and Andy Murray's 14.