Denis Shapovalov's run at the 2018 Madrid Open was halted by a dominant performance from Alexander Zverev.
Entering Saturday's semifinal against Shapovalov without having dropped a single set on the tournament, Germany's Zverev continued his impressive streak against the young Canadian. Shapovalov put up an early fight but ultimately succumbed to the World No. 3 in straight sets, with Zverev claiming the match after winning 6-4, 6-1.
In the first set, both men held serve through the first eight games. Despite the dominance in service games, there was only one ace between Shapovalov and Zverev in the opening set, and some fine skills on display.
Tennis at its best...@denis_shapo with a perfect lob!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/cDOSTO5q7H
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 12, 2018
Zverev, who elected to receive to start the match, took away Shapovalov's advantage when he broke the Canadian's serve to go ahead 5-4. The German proceeded to cruise through the next game to claim the set.
A tough first set goes the way of Zverev, 6-4. Can Shapovalov turn things around in the second set and reach his first @ATPWorldTour final? #MMOPEN
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) May 12, 2018
The entire match seemed to hinge on Zverev breaking Shapovalov's serve in the first set, as the 21-year-old immediately proceeded to win the next five straight games to take a stranglehold on the match. Suddenly down 4-0 in the second set, Shapovalov finally won a game to stop his opponent's run, but the damage had already been done.
Zverev wasn't about to let his younger counterpart back into the match, taking the next two games with relative ease and ending the contest in under 58 minutes.
Yet to drop a set all week, Sascha Zverev is into another Masters 1000 final defeating Shapovalov 6-4 6-1.#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/cSPSLRcdwv
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 12, 2018
Shapovalov is now 0-2 against the German, with the first loss coming at the teenager's breakout tournament last year. Zverev defeated Shapovalov at the semifinal stage of the Rogers Cup in August, and the second meeting between the players ended in the same fashion on Saturday.
Zverev moves on to face Dominic Thiem in the final.