Alexander Zverev underlined his credentials as a French Open title contender with a battling 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italian Matteo Berrettini on Sunday to claim his fourth Masters 1000 crown and second Madrid Open title.

Germany’s Zverev, conqueror of claycourt specialists Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem en route to the final, dropped his first set of the tournament. However, he fought back under a closed roof at the Manolo Santana stadium to lift his first claycourt title since 2019.

“I feel awesome,” Zverev said at a courtside interview. “It’s great. This is definitely a special win. I just want to enjoy it. I didn’t play too many guys who can serve like him, so it was a difficult match.”

“To do well at the French Open, you need to be playing well during the clay court season,” the 24-year-old said. “There’s really very little in terms of bigger than this one right here. I’m happy with this achievement. Obviously, yeah, I look forward to the next few weeks.”

The Paris Grand Slam is set to begin on May 30.

Berrettini showed no signs of nerves in his maiden ATP 1000 final, taking a see-sawing opening set in a tie-break, where he initially let slip a 5-0 advantage and then saved a set point.

But Zverev, who was champion in Madrid in 2018, hit back strongly in the second set, breaking the 25-year-old Italian in the ninth game to force a decider.