Jannik Sinner is the new Madrid Open title-holder, and he barely even broke a sweat to get it.
This latest win over Alexander Zverev, a ninth successive one, might just have been his most straightforward.
From the first ball, the world number one dominated, and once he took the lead, he never once looked like losing.
The gap between Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and the rest of the ATP Tour is frightening, and Zverev has now been told that he has another internal issue to contend with alongside these two young superstars.
Alexander Zverev told what his biggest issue is during Madrid Open final
Speaking live on Sky Sports, it was Miles McClagan who offered his outlook on the German, who was outmatched from the outset.
The pundit feared for Zverev’s prospects with Sinner around. After all, whilst he is clearly better than most of his peers, he is so far away from the world’s two best players.
What does Alexander Zverev have to do to change his results against Jannik Sinner?
“The problem that Zverev faces is one many lesser players have faced as well,” McClagan began, speaking before the match had actually concluded.
He continued: “He is one of the best players this sport has ever seen, and almost the more success you have, the more difficult it becomes to change things.
“He has not needed to do it against anybody but the top two at the moment. And when you have had success in a certain way for 11 or 12 years now [it’s tough].”
Then, once the result was sealed, he added: “He is in a class of his own right now. It’s almost astounding the level he was able to produce, but I feel a little empty as well. I certainly hope for more of a contest than that.
“The performance was just about faultless in every category. The mental side of things to close out not just the match but a title and another little spot in history. He’s in such a good place.”
Before the match, Tracy Austin explained how Zverev could trouble Sinner. In the end, he didn’t even lay a glove on the new Madrid Open champion.
The gap between Jannik Sinner and the rest of the ATP Tour only gets wider
With this latest victory, it’s now evident that the ATP Tour has a problem.
After all, with Carlos Alcaraz ruled out for the foreseeable future, he stands alone, so far ahead of the rest of the chasing pack.
Do you really believe that Alexander Zverev can win a Grand Slam title?
It feels like nobody can even trouble him, let alone threaten to defeat him, and as such, his win streak only grows.
He has now won every single Masters 1000 title this year, and hasn’t lost a match anywhere since February.
