Alexander Zverev showed his clay-court class by blowing away Dominic Thiem to win the Madrid Masters on Sunday. 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.
Swiss star Stan Wawrinka struggled on his return after almost three months on the sidelines, falling to a first round defeat in the clay-court Italian Open on Sunday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion lost 6-4, 6-4 to 55th-ranked American Steve Johnson.
“I really only started to play tennis again 12 days ago.
who was broken in each set and hit 30 unforced errors to Johnson’s 17.
I’m happy with physically where I am right now.
I had a lot of hesitation with my game and it obviously makes a big difference in the way I move and the way I play.” He said.
Wawrinka, 33, sat out the second half of 2017 after a knee operation following a first-round exit at Wimbledon in June.
He then spent eight weeks on crutches following surgery to repair the damage.
He returned this year but has struggled and was forced to withdraw during a second-round match in Marseille in February against world number 193 Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.
“I think when I came back in Australia it was quite clear I wasn’t ready at all. But for me it’s important to play matches to test myself playing against the top guys,” he added.
