MADRID/WASHINGTON, May 1, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Alexander Zverev wasted little time or energy finding his rhythm and intensity during his quarterfinal match-up with Flavio Cobolli at the Mutua Madrid Open Thursday evening. By the end of their 90-minute tussle on Manolo Santana Stadium, the World No. 3 and second seed from Hamburg, Germany eased to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over the No. 10 seed Cobolli to move into the last four in the Spanish capital city for the fourth time.
Less than two weeks after Cobolli took out Zverev during the semifinal round of the BMW Open in Munich, Zverev turned the tables on the 23-year-old from Florence, Italy, to achieve his third Top-20 victory of 2026 and to reach his seventh ATP Masters 1000 semifinal in his last eight 1000-series events going back to last season.
A familiar sight in Madrid 😃🇩🇪👏🏻@AlexZverev | @atptour | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/iZTHkCS1Uv
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 30, 2026
During his on-court interview, Zverev downplayed any sort of revenge in beating Cobolli after losing to him in Munich earlier in the month. He leads their career head-to-head 3-1, with two of the three wins coming on clay.
“No revenge. I love Flavio. He’s one of my favorite guys on Tour,” said Zverev, who improved his win-loss record this year to 25-7 and advanced to his sixth semifinal of the season. “He knows that. I have a great relationship with him and a great relationship with his father. This is sport. … Sports can change very quickly. In Munich, he played an amazing match and I didn’t play a very good match. Today, it was maybe the opposite.
“Here, I played an amazing first set, he didn’t play an amazing first set. So, in sports it’s like that. I’m definitely happy with the win.”
Rock solid 🛡️
🇩🇪 @AlexZverev has made the semifinals in all four ATP Masters 1000s so far this season.
The two-time #MMOPEN champ defeated Cobolli 6-1, 6-4 in the Manolo Santana Stadium. pic.twitter.com/7UpKxMbHdX
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 30, 2026
The 29-year-old Zverev is the fourth man to reach the first four ATP Masters 1000 semifinals in a single season since the series began in 1990. He joins Roger Federer (2006), Rafael Nadal (2010-11) and Jannik Sinner (2026). Zverev has lost at the semifinal round to Sinner at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo this year. In Madrid, since they are on opposite sides of the draw as the No.1 and No. 2 seeds, they can only meet in Sunday’s final if each wins their semifinal matches on Friday.
“It’s amazing but, of course, I need to get past this stage now,” Zverev said, smiling, as he was asked about reaching the semifinal round of all four Masters 1000 events this season. In Madrid, Zverev is undefeated in semifinal play, having gone 3-0, and also he’s a two-time titlist (in 2018 and 2021).
Most tour-level clay wins among German men in the Open Era (179) 👏🇩🇪
The moment @AlexZverev defeated Cobolli to reach his fifth consecutive semi-final at ATP Masters 1000 events! #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/d93c0Ve8q2
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 30, 2026
Against Cobolli, Zverev accumulated 23 winners – including 12 aces – and won 82 percent (32 of 39) of his first-serve points. He saved the only two break points he faced from Cobolli and converted three of 11 break-point chances. Zverev outpointed his opponent, 67-47.
In Friday evening’s second semifinal, Zverev will face No. 69 Alexander Blockx of Belgium, who has advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. On Thursday, Blockx upset World No. 15 and defending Madrid Open champion Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-4, 6-4.
Around the Caja Magica
World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy will oppose World No. 25 and 21st seed Arthur Fils of France in the first men’s semifinal not before 4 p.m. Madrid time on Manolo Santana Stadium. Sinner leads their head-to-head 1-0 after defeating Fils, 7-5, 6-2, in a semifinal match at Montpellier, France on an indoor hard court in 2023.
📅 Men’s singles semifinals are set ⚔️@atptour | @ATPTour_ES | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/2ooIZGgu96
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 30, 2026
Thursday’s Madrid Open results
Friday’s Madrid Open order of play
By the numbers
With his quarterfinal victory over Flavio Cobolli Thursday evening, Alexander Zverev has surpassed Philipp Kohlschreiber for most clay wins in the Open Era by a German player.Zverev won his 179th career match on clay. He’s 179-64 lifetime, compared to Kohlschreiber’s 178-139. Tommy Haas is third with 135 clay-court wins followed by Boris Becker with 120 and Karl Meiler with 117.
“Quotable …”
“He’s a young player, a new player. I think he has great spirit when he’s on the tennis court. I enjoy watching him play. I think he’s a great guy outside of the court, very respectful. I’m going to enjoy our first meeting.”
– No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, during his on-court interview Thursday, after defeating No. Flavio Cobolli to advance to Friday’s semifinals against Alexander Blockx.
