In the men's singles quarterfinals of the Madrid Open 2026, Alexander Zverev (seed number 2) had a superior performance when defeating Flavio Cobolli with a score of 6-1, 6-4, thereby entering the semi-finals.
This victory also helped the German player "reclaim his debt" after losing to Cobolli himself in the semi-finals of the Munich Open less than two weeks ago. The match lasted only about 90 minutes, in which Zverev almost completely overwhelmed with impressive serve efficiency, especially in first serve situations.
Right in the first set, Zverev soon gained the upper hand with powerful serves, scored many direct points and continuously put pressure on his opponent to make mistakes. Cobolli could not maintain stability and quickly lost 1-6.
In the second set, the game did not change much when Zverev continued to control the tempo with deep and accurate ball controls. Although the Italian player resisted at times, successfully saving some break points, it was still not enough to make a difference. Zverev closed the match with a 6-4 victory.
Sharing after the match, Zverev said he did not see this as a "revenge", but simply a difference in form between the two encounters. The German player also showed respect for Cobolli, while emphasizing the harshness and rapid fluctuation of top tennis.
With this result, Zverev became one of the few players in history to reach the semi-finals of all four Masters 1000 tournaments at the beginning of the season, a record previously set by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and most recently Jannik Sinner.
In the semi-finals, Zverev will face the phenomenon of the tournament, Alexander Blockx. The young Belgian player previously surprised by eliminating defending champion Casper Ruud to participate for the first time in the round for the four strongest players at a Masters 1000 tournament.
