Madrid Open: Alexander Zverev blitzes Denis Shapovalov to set up final clash with Dominic Thiem

German second seed Alexander Zverev swept past Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the Madrid Masters final. The 21-year-old Zverev will face Austria’s Dominic Thiem, the man who knocked out Rafael Nadal in the last-eight, in Sunday’s championship match. [caption id=“attachment_4467397” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Germany’s Alexander Zverev celebrates after beating Denis Shapovalov in the Madrid Masters semis. AFP[/caption] Thiem, the fifth seed, had earlier defeated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2 in his semi-final. “This is the earliest I’ve finished all week,” joked Zverev. “Now I don’t know what to do for the next four hours.” Fifth-seeded Thiem, the runner-up to Nadal in the 2017 Madrid final and still chasing a maiden Masters title, needed 85 minutes to dispose of his South African opponent, seeded sixth. “I will try everything on Sunday. A Masters 1000 title would mean a lot to me because it’s obviously really tough to win one,” said Thiem. “To be honest, I thought also myself that I was pretty far away before this week started. Now I’m in the finals again, which is amazing for me.” Thiem is playing in just his third tournament since a right ankle fracture suffered at Indian Wells while US Open runner-up Anderson was competing in his first semi-final at Masters level, ending a run of 10 prior losses in quarter-finals at this level.