German Zverev Wins Madrid Masters

Dominic Thiem lost to Alexander Zverev in the Madrid Masters final on Sunday and then said the German is now the best player in the world beneath Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Zverev has long been marked out as a future star of the men’s game and his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Thiem suggests the German can be a major threat at the French Open later this month, AFP reported.

Thiem had ousted Nadal in the quarter-finals on Friday and he too will be among the small group capable of preventing the Spaniard from claiming an 11th Roland Garros crown.

But the Austrian was outplayed, and over-powered, by Zverev, who collects his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, the most prestigious tier of knock-out tournament beneath the four Grand Slams.

Zverev is now one of five active players to have won three, the others being Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Those four are all aged 30 or older, while Zverev is 21, with Djokovic and Murray both attempting recovery missions after injury.

Ranked third in the world, Zverev is yet to transfer his talent and success in Masters events to Grand Slams, however, where his best result remains reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.