If the backhand landed short, Zverev would already be there for it. The pressure of moving forward also served to shrink the target area for Berrettini. The German saw it coming early and quickly moved forward in the Ad court to make sure that it would not get too low on him again.

It was a risky play for Zverev that didn’t pay off, also giving Berrettini confidence that this specific shot would be a valuable asset as he tried to close out the match.īerrettini went to the backhand slice a few points later with Zverev serving at Ad/40. The heavy backspin dragged his low, offensive forehand straight into the net. With Zverev serving at 1-2, 40/30, Berrettini hit one of his signature laser-beam backspin crosscourt backhands that Zverev boldly tried to attack with an inside-in forehand down the line. Berrettini loves this backhand slice, as his opponent typically has to play defence off of it, and the slower ball that returns allows him ample time to feast on run-around forehands in the Ad court. They bounced low, staying below Zverev’s strike zone, making them almost impossible to attack. Overall, Berrettini hit 210 forehands from the back of the court and just 127 backhands, with many of them struck with severe backspin, crossing the net like a frozen rope. He was not threatened again, pulling away for a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 victory to claim his second Madrid title.Ī key to Zverev’s impressive turnaround early in the third set was how he tactically adjusted to Berrettini’s slice backhand, intelligently countering with his feet more than his racquet.

But from break point down at 1-2, 40/Ad, Zverev won seven of the next eight points to suddenly find himself up a break at 3-2 in the decider. In a pivotal two-game sequence at 1-2 in the third set, Zverev initially imploded with two double faults and he strategically struggled figuring out what to do with Berrettini’s wicked crosscourt backhand slice. The match was two hours and 11 minutes old and everything that came before this moment was simply the prelude. Crunch time roared to life with Alexander Zverev serving at break point at 1-2 in the third set of the Mutua Madrid Open final against Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.

Slice back hand slow motion